A  SKETCH 

Of  fa  Early  Life  and  of  fa  Civil  and  Military  Services  of 


MAJ.  GEN.  JOHN  W.GEARY, 

CANDIDATE  OF  THE  NATIONAL  UNION  PARTY 

FOR  GOVERNOR  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

1866. 


A  SKETCH 

Of  the  Early  life  and  of  the  Civil  and  Military  Services  of 


MAJ.  GEN.  JOHN  W.  GEARY, 

CANDIDATE  OF  THE  NATIONAL  UNION  PARTY 

FOR  GOVERNOR  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

1866. 


RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED 

TO    HIS   OLD   COMPANIONS    IN    ARMS, 

TO   THE    FAMILIES    WHO    HAVE    SUFFERED    BEREAVEMENT   IN   THE   CAUSE   OF    THEIR    COUNTRY, 
AND    TO  ALL   PATRIOTIC    AND    LOYAL   VOTERS    OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 


"  For  Fitness  to  Command,  and  Promptness  to  Execute," 

GENERAL    GEARY'S    COMMISSION    AS    BREVET    MAJOR    GENERAL, 
DATED  JANUARY  12,  1865. 


KINO  &  BAIRD,  PRINTERS, 
No.  607  SAXSOM  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA 


KF  E/rrcFrjFr  r  rrrc'/crw 


A  SKETCH  OF  THE  LIFE  OF  MU,  GEN,  JOHN  I,  GE1R1, 


CHAPTER    I. 

ANCESTEY,  BIETH  AND  EAELY  LIFE. 

The  supposed  availability  of  a  candidate  is  the  controlling  argument 
in  most  political  nominations.  Influenced  by  this  consideration,  parties 
have  frequently  felt  themselves  obliged  to  ignore  the  claims  of  favorite 
leaders,  and  select  candidates  whose  obscurity  would  prove  the  surest 
protection  against  the  assaults  of  their  opponents.  In  some  memorable 
instances,  both  federal  and  state  nominations  have  been  made  upon  this 
principle.  Fitness  has  thus  been  sacrificed  to  success.  Sometimes  the 
sacrifice  of  persons  is  accepted  to  insure  the  triumph  of  principles,  but 
every  sincere  patriot,  in  such  a  case,  submits  to  the  alternative  with  painful 
reluctance.  It  may  be  deemed,  therefore,  most  fortunate,  when  all  the 
elements  of  availability  and  fitness  are  found  uniting  in  a  candidate  ;  and, 
in  every  such  instance,  a  party  triumph  stands  as  a  certain  guarantee  for 
a  wise  and  faithful  administration.  Such  is  the  allotment  of  good  fortune 
which  Divine  Providence  has  been  pleased  to  assign  to  the  National  Union 
Part}r  of  the  great  Commonwealth  of  Penns}7lvania.  Their  candidate  for 
the  Chief  Magistracy  of  the  State  is  well  known  throughout  the  country 
for  his  long,  varied  and  eminent  public  services ;  while  his  conduct  in 
both  personal  and  official  relations  has  ever  been  such  as  to  court  inves- 
tigation, and  win  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  fellow-citizens  of  all 
shades  of  political  opinion. 

At  a  remote  period  his  ancestors  were  Scotch-Irish,  but  for  several 
generations  they  had  inherited  the  inestimable  privileges  and  honors  of 
American  birth.  Richard  Geary — his  father — was  a  native  of  Franklin 
county,  Penns3rlvania.  Margaret  White — his  mother — was  born  in  Wash- 
ington county,  Maryland.  Richard  Geary  received  the  advantages  of  a 
*  liberal  education,  and  was  a  man  of  refined  tastes,  amiable  disposition,  and 
great  moral  excellence.  Margaret  White  was,  in  all  respects,  fitted  to  be 
his  companion.  Shortly  after  their  marriage,  the  young  husband  removed 
with  his  family  to  Western  Pennsylvania.  His  attention  was  soon  directed 
to  the  mineral  wealth  of  that  section,  and  he  was  induced  to  engage  his 
talents  and  capital  in  the  manufacture  of  iron.  A  business  involving,  at 
all  time-s,  much  risk  and  responsibility,  it  was  far  more  precarious  in  our 
country  then  than  now ;  and  like  many  of  the  iron  manufacturers  of  that' 
period,  Mr.  Geary  failed  in  business,  losing  the  whole  of  his  original  invest- 
ment, and  leaving  himself  still  under  pecuniary  liabilities  which  he  was 
unable  to  discharge.  In  this  trying  exigency  of  his  affairs,  he  fell  back 


4 

upon  the  resources  which  a  liberal  education  had  furnished,  and  opened  a 
select  school  in  Westmoreland  county.  The  rest  of  his  life  was  devoted 
to  the  honorable  and  useful,  but  seldom  lucrative  profession  of  teaching ; 
and  he  died  insolvent  from  his  previous  failure  in  business,  leaving  his 
family  without  provision  for  their  maintenance  and  education.  In  their 
affliction,  however,  there  remained  to  them  the  pleasing  reflection  that  the 
husband  and  father  had  been  instrumental  in  so  directing  the  minds,  and 
forming  the  character  of  his  pupils,  as  to  give  promise  of  that  distinction 
in  civil  life,  to  which  they  subsequently  attained ;  and  notwithstanding 
his  pecuniary  misfortune,  he  had  bequeathed  to  them  principles  worthy  of 
their  most  sacred  preservation,  and  a  reputation  without  stain. 

By  the  will  of  her  father,  Mrs.  Richard  Geary  inherited  several  families 
of  slaves,  all  of  whom  she  first  educated,  and  then  manumitted.  The  mann- 
mission  of  slaves,  at  that  day,  was  a  thing  ol  frequent  occurrence,  but 
the  gift  of  freedom  was  rarely  preceded  by  an  education  that  would  enable 
the  recipients  to  make  the  most  of  its  advantages.  This  instance,  though 
not  regarded  as  noteworthy  at  the  time,  is  very  significant  now,  indicating, 
as  it  does,  that  love  of  liberty  and  of  justice  which  has  ever  so  strikingly 
characterized  the  eventful  life  of  her  distinguished  son. 

The  home  of  Richard  and  Margaret  White  Geary  was  an  humble  log- 
house,  situated  near  Mount  Pleasant,  Westmoreland  county,  Pennsylvania, 
In  this  county  were  born  to  the  happy  husband  and  wife  four  children 
— all  sons.  The  first  and  the  third  died  young.  The  second  is  the  Rev. 
Edward  R.  Geary,  an  eminent  Presbyterian  clergyman,  who  for  the  last 
fourteen  years  has  resided  in  Oregon.  The  youngest  is  Major-General 
John  White  Geary,  the  candidate  of  the  National  Union  part}',  and 
destined  to  be  the  next  Governor  of  Pennsylvania.  General  Geary  was 
born  December  20th,  1819,  and  is  consequently  in  his  forty-seventh 
year.  After  attending  to  the  usual  course  of  preliminary  study,  he  en- 
tered Jefferson  College,  Canonsburg,  Pennsylvania.  In  this  institution 
he  remained  for  some  time,  making  diligent  use  of  his  opportunities,  but 
was  obliged,  in  consequence  ot  the  death  of  his  father,  to  leave  school 
before  the  period  of  graduation.  The  circumstance  of  his  father's  failure 
in  business  has  already  been  noted,  and  also  the  dependent  condition  of 
the  family  at  the  time  of  his  death.  The  stroke  fell  heavily  upon  the  hopes 
of  the  young  student,  but  he  braced  himself  nobly  to  meet  its  consequences. 
Promptly,  though  with  reluctance,  retiring  from  college,  he  at  once  assumed 
the  care  of  his  sorrow-stricken  mother,  and  by  opening  a  school,  as  his 
father  had  done,  provided  for  the  comfort  of  her  declining  years.  In  his 
estimation,  however,  it  was  not  enough  that  he  should  provide  for  a 
widowed  mother.  His  father  having,  unavoidably,  left  certain  claims  of 
his  creditors  unsatisfied,  the  son  honorably  resolved  that  he  would  dis- 
charge them,  and  by  persevering  industry,  self-denial,  and  economy,  was 
enabled  to  accomplish  this  rare  and  exalted  purpose.  It  was  not  difficult 
to  foretell  the  future  of  a  son  who  had  evinced  such  affectionate  solicitude 
for  a  living  mother's  comfort,  and  such  a  chivalrous  regard  for  the  honor 
of  a  dead  father's  memory.  These  instances  of  filial  affection  and  rever- 


Li    I 


ence,  it  is  said,  very  deeply  impressed  the  minds  of  all  the  old  neighbors 
and  friends  of  the  family ;  induced  them  to  speak  of  young  Geary  in  the 
most  flattering  terms,  and  to  predict  for  him  the  proud  achievements  which 
have  since  become  facts  of  sober  history. 

The  profession  of  a  teacher  not  proving  sufficiently  remunerative,  and 
having  by  ample  experiment  found  it  to  be  unsuited  to  his  tastes  and 
aspirations,  after  a  brief  clerkship  in  a  wholesale  store  at  Pittsburg,  he 
commenced  the  stud}''  of  civil  engineering,  thus  yielding  to  a  strong  pre- 
dilection for  mathematical  pursuits,  which  he  had  displayed  during  his 
collegiate  course.  In  addition  to  this  important  branch  of  science,  he 
subsequently  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  practice.  By  these  varied 
acquirements,  he  was  qualified  for  the  different  positions  of  public  trust 
and  responsibility  which  he  has  filled  with  so  much  distinction  as  a  eitizen 
and  a  soldier. 

Personal  Characteristics^ 

This  biographical  sketch  being  necessarily  very  limited,  no  attempt  will 
be  made  to  give  a  full  analysis  of  the  personal  qualities  of  its  distinguished 
subject.  "A  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body  "  was  the  phrase  used  by  the 
old  Romans  to  express  their  idea  of  that  peculiar  type  of  the  human  con- 
stitution which  is  naturally  adapted  to  the  accomplishment  of  great  deeds. 
Such  a  mind  is  clear  in  perception,  sober  and  accurate  in  judgment, 
prompt,  persistent  and  victorious  in  action.  A  man  thus  endowed  is 
naturally  fitted  for  the  deliberations  of  the  assembly,  the  decisions  of  the 
bench,  the  duties  of  the  magistracy,  and  the  dangers  and  responsibilities 
of  the  field.  General  Geary  has  been  tried  in  each  of  these  situations ; 
and  has  signally  proved  his  eminent  fitness  for  them  all.  And  besides 
these  powers  he  possesses  that  natural  faculty  for  leadership,  without 
which,  even  superior  men,  never  advance  to  .prominent  positions  m  the 
contests  of  life. 

The  fact  of  his  endowment  with  this  great  quality  has  received  numerous 
and  striking  illustrations.  Whether  the  service  has  been  civil  or  military 
that  engaged  his  attention,  he  has  achieved  a  commanding  position.  It 
should  be  noted  also  that  his  faculty  for  leadership  has  been  rendered 
more  effective  by  the  endowment  of  a  fine  personal  presence.  In  person, 
General  Geary  is  tall,  erect  and  well-proportioned.  In  manner,  he  is 
direct,  simple,  and  cordial.  Either  in  military  undress,  or  in  full  costume, 
at  the  head  of  an  army,  he  looks  every  inch  the  soldier ;  and  at  the  head 
of  the  Commonwealth  he  will  look  every  inch  the  Governor. 

But  of  more  intrinsic  ^alue,  and  of  paramount  importance,  are  the  moral 
qualities  of  our  candidate.  His  moral  basis  is  sound,  strong,  and  enduring. 
For  this  he  is  indebted  to  his  Scotch-Irish  descent,  and  his  early  and  care- 
ful religious  instruction  and  discipline.  These  causes  have  implanted  and 
developed  in  him  a  conscience  that  is  tender  and  wakeful,  a  love  of  truth  and 
justice  which  temptation  has  neither  supplanted  nor  impaired  ;  and  especially 
a  force  of  will  which  holds  the  most  dangerous  of  nature's  appetites  and 
passions  under  easy  and  complete  control.  Thus  constituted,  he  has  escaped 


the  vices  which  have  destroyed  so  many  gifted  men.  Placed  in  circum- 
stances, during  most  of  his  life,  that  exposed  him  to  temptations  of 
peculiar  power,  he  has  not  succumbed.  Thus,  for  example,  though  the 
greater  part  of  his  public  life  has  been  spent  on  the  frontier  or  in  camp, 
he  has  been  noted  for  his  temperate  and  abstemious  habits.  In  regard 
to  all  moral  and  religious  questions,  General  Geary  is  a  man  of  liberal 
views,  and  of  a  true  Christian  spirit.  Nothing  short  of  this  could  be  ex- 
pected, considering  the  ancestry  from  which  he  has  derived  his  name  and 
inherited  his  principles.  And  should  he  live  to  assume  the  highly  impor- 
tant trust  of  the  State's  Chief  Magistracy,  it  will  be  with  a  becoming 
sense  of  his  obligations  to  his  fellow-citizens,  and  of  his  accountability 
to  Almighty  God. 


CHAPTER  II. 

CIVIL  EEOOED.    (California.) 

The  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  which  defined  and  established  the 
results  of  our  Mexican  war,  extended  the  national  boundary  line  front 
the  Rio  Grande  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  California,  with  her  gold-streaked 
mountains,  was  included  in  that  rich  and  vast  accession  to  the  national 
domain.  As  soon  as  it  was  ascertained  that  the  rocks  and  sands  of  tho 
newly-acquired  Territory  were  rich  in  the  most  precious  of  all  metals, 
emigration,  as  a  very  gulf-stream,  began  to  flow  around  Cape  Horn,  and 
across  the  Isthmus.  At  the  same  time,  from  the  banks  of  the  Missouri 
river,  caravan  after  caravan  began  to  wend  its  toilsome  way  across  tho 
plains,  and  through  the  passes  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  "  The  gold  of 
that  land  was  good,"  and  the  rich  deposits  of  the  new  "El  Dorado"  were 
quickly  and  eagerly  sought  by  natives  of  all  climes  and  nations.  All  shades  of 
opinion  and  character  were  there.  Of  this  strangely  diversified  community, 
it  might  be  said  "  there  was  no  Judge  in  Israel ;  every  one  walked  in  the 
ways  of  his  own  heart,  and  in  the  sight  of  his  own  eyes."  But  love  of  order, 
and  reverence  for  law,  are  among  the  most  prominent  characteristics  of 
the  American  mind  !  Out  of  the  heterogeneous  mass  of  men,  which  the 
powerful  attraction  of  gold  had  brought  together  from  the  nationalities  of 
the  Old  and  the  New  World,  there  accordingly  arose  a  civil  community, 
under  the  usual  forms  of  American  law,  and  governed  in  the  usual  modes 
of  American  administration.  It  was  on  this  strange  and  singularly 
interesting  theatre,  that  John  W.  Geary  commenced  his  public  career. 

Appointed  Postmaster  of  San  Francisco,  and  Mail  Agent  for  the 

Pacific  Coast, 

On  the  22d  of  January,  1849,  President  Polk,  in  grateful  recognition 
of  his  gallant  services  in  the  Mexican  war,  appointed  him  Postmaster  of 
San  Francisco,  with  full  authority  tc  jreate  post  offices,  appoint  post- 


masters,  establish  mail  routes,  and  make  contracts  for  carrying  the  mails 
throughout  California.  Having  received  his  commission  at  Washington, 
with  his  customary  promptness  he  returned  to  his  home  in  Westmoreland 
county,  closed  up  his  business,  and  on  the  1st  of  February,  in  company 
with  his  wife  and  child,  sailed  from  New  York  for  the  distant  scene  of 
his  official  responsibility.  The  passage  of  the  Isthmus  was  made  in  a 
small  boat,  and  was  at  that  time  attended  with  inconvenience  and  danger. 
Arriving  safely,  however,  at  Panama,  he  was  detained  there  nearly  a  month, 
waiting  for  the  steamer  Oregon,  which  was  to  call  for  passengers  at  that 
port  on  her  trip  to  California,  via  Cape  Horn.  Subjected  to  this  detention, 
and  being  as  ever  before  and  since,  incapable  of  idleness  or  useless  occu- 
pation, he  organized  a  Masonic  society,  and  an  association  of  Odd-Fellows, 
both  of  which  were  designed  to  afford  relief  to  sick  and  destitute  emigrant 
passengers.  These  two  societies  continued  to  exist  as  monuments  of  his 
thoughtful  prudence,  and  humane  foresight,  until  the  increased  facilities 
for  travelling  across  the  Isthmus  rendered  them  no  longer  necessary. 
This  may  seem  to  some  a  trifling  circumstance,  but  it  is  very  significant 
as  an  illustration  of  the  pleasing  fact  that,  at  no  stage  of  his  public  career, 
has  he  ever  made  even  a  brief  pause  without  doing  something  beneficial,  and 
to  cause  his  name  to  be  held  in  grateful  remembrance. 

A  Perilous  Adventure, 

During  his  detention  at  Panama,  there  occurred  to  him  an  adventure, 
not  without  peril,  and  that  might  have  been  attended  with  serious  conse- 
quences to  his  life,  but  for  his  native  quickness  and  presence  of  mind  in 
all  times  of  emergency  and  clanger.  The  incident  referred  to  is  thus 
related  by  a  well-known  author :  •'  Three  or  four  days  after  his  arrival  in 
the  city,  he  discovered  that  he  had  been  robbed  during  the  night  of  a 
number  of  valuable  articles,  and  about  daylight  went  to  the  guard,  con- 
sisting of  a  sergeant  and  twelve  men,  whose  guard-house  was  ki  the  jail- 
building,  to  obtain  information  concerning  the  robbery.  Here,  though  he 
addressed  them  in  good  Spanish,  they  pretended  not  to  understand  him, 
and  plied  him  with  some  insulting  questions.  One  of  the  party  finally 
struck  him  on  the  ear,  and  being  incensed  by  so  gross  an  outrage,  he 
instantly  knocked  the  fellow  down.  Quickly  perceiving  his  error,  and 
observing  his  desperate  position,  he  rushed  between  two  men,  tripping 
them,  and  knocking  down  another,  sprang  into  the  guard  room.  This 
room  was  about  thirty  feet  long,  and  at  the  rear  end  were  stacked  the 
arms  of  the  garrison.  He  seized  a  loaded  musket  from  the  pile,  and 
placing  his  back  to  the  remainder,  threatened  to  shoot  the  first  man  who 
should  enter  the  door.  Glancing  his  eyes  around,  he  recognized  his 
perilous  situation.  The  sides  of  the  room  were  of  rough  logs,  between 
the  interstices  of  which  peered  at  every  corner  the  dark  and  desperate 
faces  of  the  prisoners  in  the  contiguous  jail  cells.  Before  him  were 
thirteen  armed  and  hostile  men,  anxious  and  determined  to  destroy  him. 
On  repeating  his  questions  concerning  the  robbery,  one  of  them  threw 
himself  on  a  pile  of  blankets,  and  said  that  they  had  slept  in  that  position 


8 

all  night,  and  had  kept  no  watch.  This  man  attempted,  by  rolling  himself 
on  the  blankets,  to  seize  Colonel  Geary  by  the  leg  and  trip  him,  upon 
which  the  latter  snatched  the  rascal's  bayonet  from  its  scabbard,  and 
placed  it  on  the  end  of  the  musket  in  his  own  hands.  The  fellow  repeating 
his  effort,  the  Colonel  stabbed  him  in  the  leg,  and  seizing  him,  with  part  of 
the  blankets,  hurled  him  out  of  the  door,  and  thus,  unexpectedly,  uncovered 
his  stolen  property.  Having  thus  firmly  fastened  the  evidence  of  their 
theft  upon  the  men,  the  stolen  goods  being  in  sight,  they  immediately 
jaelded,  obeyed  all  his  orders,  threw  their  bayonets  upon  the  ground,  and 
forming  themselves  in  line,  carried  the  articles  back  to  his  quarters,  and 
placed  them  on  the  spot  whence  they  had  been  taken. 

"  Before  leaving  the  guard-room  the  Colonel  took  the  precaution  to  knock 
out  all  the  flints  and  remove  the  priming  from  the  remaining  arms.  When 
he  reached  his  quarters,  he  sent  twelve  of  the  men  back,  and  knocking 
out  the  flint  and  priming,  and  reversing  the  bayonet  of  the  gun  he  had 
retained,  he  gave  it  to  the  last  man  of  the  guard,  whom  he  summarily 
kicked  down  stairs."  (See  the  "Annals  of  San  Francisco.")  The  Spanish- 
Americans  have  great  respect  for  the  prompt  will,  and  the  strong  hand ; 
and  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that,  after  what  had  happened,  Colonel 
Gear}7  was  treated  with  marked  consideration  during  the  remainder  of  his 
sojourn  among  them. 

Arrival  at  San  Francisco, 

The  "  Oregon,"  arriving  at  last,  the  Colonel  and  his  family  took  pas- 
sage, and  were  safely  landed  at  San  Francisco  on  the  1st  of  April,  a  little 
more  than  two  months  from  the  date  of  his  commission.  Entering  at  once 
upon  his  duties,  he  was  obliged  to  content  himself  for  a  time  with  the 
rudest  accommodations.  Having  no  mail-boxes,  he  drew  lines  upon  the 
floor,  forming  squares,  which  were  duly  alphabeted,  and  in  these  the  letters 
were  arranged,  and,  as  called  for,  were  delivered  through  a  hole  in  the 
window  made  by  the  removal  of  a  pane  of  glass.  Here,  however,  as  in  all 
other  situations  of  his  life,  his  methodical  turn,  and  practical  tact,  soon 
provided  all  needful  facilities,  and  brought  the  labors  of  the  office  under 
an  easy  and  expeditious  system  of  operation.  But  scarcely  had  he  effected 
these  arrangements  when  he  learned  that  General  Taylor,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded to  the  Presidency,  had  appointed  Jacob  B.  Moore,  Esq.,  to  the 
position  which  he  had  so  briefly  but  efficiently  occupied. 

Unanimously  elected  First  Alcalde  of  the  City, 

About  the  time  of  his  removal  from  the  post-office,  and  general  mail 
agency,  Brigadier-general  Riley,  having  been  appointed  military  governor 
of  the  territory,  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  settlers  to  assemble  in  con- 
vention for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  territorial  government.  By  the 
easy  and  intelligent  dispatch  with  which  Colonel  Geary  discharged  his 
duties  as  postmaster  and  mail-agent,  he  had  won  the  confidence  and  esteem 
©f  the  people,  so  that  when  the  time  arrived  for  the  nomination  of  candi- 
dates to  fill  the  positions  created  by  the  new  organization,  he  was  selected 


9 

for  the  office  of  First  Alcalde.  This  action  of  his  fellow-citizens  was  not  in 
harmony  with  his  known  and  oft-repeated  wishes,  yet  they  persisted  in 
placing  his  name  on  every  one  of  the  ten  tickets  presented  to  the  people, 
and  at  the  ensuing  election  he  was  unanimously  chosen,  as  was  officially 
certified  in  the  following  document : 

"  To  HON.  JOHN  W.  GEARY: 

"At  a  special  election  held  in  San  Francisco,  August  1st,  1849,  to  fill 
the  vacancy  existing  in  the  office  of  First  Alcalde  of  said  town  and  district, 
you  were  elected  by  fifteen  hundred  and  sixteen  votes,  being  the  whole 
number  cast. 

"FREDERICK  BILLINGS, 
"  Chairman  Board  of  Inspectors  and  Judges. 
"SAN  FRANCISCO,  August  2,  1849." 

This  was  only  eight  days  after  his  retirement  from  the  office  which  he 
had  held  by  appointment  from  the  Federal  Executive.  This  flattering 
testimonial  from  his  fellow-citizens  was  almost  immediately  succeeded  by 
another  mark  of  confidence  and  appreciation  indicated  in  the  following 
proclamation  of  Governor  Riley : 

Appointed  Judge  of  First  Instance. 

"Know  all  men,  by  these  presents,  that  I,  Bennet  Riley,  Brevet  Brigadier- 
general  United  States  Army,  and  Governor  of  California,  by  virtue  of 
authority  in  me  vested,  do  hereby  appoint  and  confirm  J.  W.  Geary  as 
Judge  of  First  Instance  in  and  for  the  district  of  San  Francisco,  to  date 
from  the  1st  of  August,  1849.  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal,  at  San 
Francisco,  Cal.,  this  6th  day  of  August,  A.  D.  1849. 

(Official)  "B.  RILEY, 

"  Bt.  Brig.  Gen.  U.  S.  A.  and  Gov.  of  California. 

"  H.  W.  HALLECK, 

"Bt.  Capt.  and  Secretary  of  State." 

The  office  of  Alcalde,  and  that  of  Judge  of  First  Instance,  were  Mexican 
institutions.  How  onerous  and  important  their  duties  were  will  be  seen 
from  a  brief  enumeration.  The  Alcalde  was  Sheriff,  Probate  Judge,  Re- 
corder, and  even  Notary  Public  and  Coroner.  In  addition  to  these  func- 
tions, he  held  daily  an  ordinary  Police  or  Mayor's  Court,  as  well  as  a 
regular  Alcalde's  Court  for  the  minor  cases  and  general  executive  matters 
of  the  city.  The  Judge  of  First  Instance  held  a  Court,  having  both  civil 
and  criminal  jurisdiction  throughout  the  city ;  and  a  Court  of  Admiralty 
also,  exercising  authority  in  all  maritime  cases.  In  fact,  Judge  Geary 
was,  by  virtue  of  his  two  appointments,  general  Curator  of  the  public, 
doing  every  thing  that  was  to  be  done,  either  in  the  department  of  civil  or 
criminal  business.  For  a  long  time  there  was  no  other  magistrate  in  the 
town,  and  the  Judge  was  finally  obliged  to  request  the  appointment  of  an 
assistant,  when  Hon.  W.  B.  Almond  was  made  Judge  of  First  Instance 
with  civil  jurisdiction  only.  All  these  varied  and  intricate  duties  Judge 
Gearv  r>erformed  with  the  utmost  satisfaction  to  the  people. 


10      Mwi 
Unanimous  Ee-election, 

At  the  close  of  the  year  a  new  election  took  place,  when  he  was  re- 
elected,  receiving  all  the  votes  but  four  out  of  the  twelve  thousand  that  were 
polled.  He  continued  in  office  until  the  following  spring,  at  which  time 
the  old  Mexican  institutions  were  supplanted  by  our  own  system  of  muni- 
cipal government. 

Administrative  Ability  and  Integrity, 

In  the  departments  to  which  the  public  voice  had  called  him,  both  his 
talents  for  administration  and  the  integrity  of  his  character  found  many 
occasions  for  signal  illustration.  Under  the  old  Mexican  laws,  Alcaldes 
had  power  to  grant  away  the  public  lands  at  the  fixed  rates  of  twelve 
dollars  for  fifty  vara  lots,  and  twenty-four  dollars  for  one  hundred  vara 
lots.  All  Mexican  Alcaldes,  previous  to  Geary's  time,  had  availed  them- 
selves of  this  privilege,  and  disposed  of  an  immense  amount  of  valuable 
property  at  these  merely  nominal  prices.  No  sooner  had  he  been  duly 
installed  in  office  than  he  caused  it  to  be  understood  that  he  would  make 
no  such  grants,  and  would  at  once  resign  rather  than  conform  to  the  pre- 
vious custom.  At  his  instance  a  committee  was  appointed  to  ascertain  the 
value  of  the  city  property,  at  the  old  rates,  and  they  reported  it  to  be 
only  $35,000.  Upon  the  reception  of  this  report,  the  new  Alcalde  ordered 
a  portion  of  the  property  to  be  sold  at  public  auction,  and  it  realized  the 
handsome  sum  of  half  a  million  of  dollars.  As  a  matter  of  course,  the 
unsold  tracts  immediately  rose  to  a  proportionate  value,  and  became  worth 
millions  to  the  cit^y  treasury. 

The  authors  of  "Annals  of  San  Francisco,"  who  were  eye-witnesses, 
speak  of  Colonel  Geary's  municipal  administration  in  terms  of  strong  and 
unqualified  approbation.  "  The  city,"  say  they,  "  comprised  people  of  every 
nation,  class,  and  sort,  many  of  whom  had  for  months  been  exercising  an 
unrestrained  course  of  villainy  and  rascality,  yet  no  civilized  community 
was  ever  more  harmoniously  governed;  and  even  after  his  administration 
had  ceased,  its  condition  could  not  compare  with  what  it  had  been  before, 
as  was  proved  from  the  necessity  of  the  action  of  the  Vigilance  Committee. 
Thefts  and  robberies  were  of  so  rare  occurrence  that  valuable  goods  were 
frequently  left  in  the  streets  unwatched  and  undisturbed,  and  people  felt 
no  hesitancy  in  quitting  their  unprotected  and  generally  open  abodes  for 
hours,  and  even  days,  without  the  slightest  apprehension  of  suffering  loss 
during  their  absence.  The  rogues  had  either  left  the  place  or  were  terri- 
fied by  the  few  examples  of  severe  reprehension  that  were  given.  They 
soon  learned  that  they  had  nothing  to  expect  either  from  the  tenderness 
or  partiality  of  the  magistrate.  A  conviction  was  sure  to  be  followed 
by  a  merited  and  speedy  punishment,  rendered  as  severe  as  opportunities 
permitted  and  circumstances  seemed  to  demand.  Finding  that  the  rascals 
cared  little  for  confinement  in  the  prison -brig,  where  they  ate  the  bread  of 
idleness  at  the  public  expense,  the  Alcalde  adopted  a  better  method  to 
hold  them  in  awe,  and  teach  them  the  observance  of  good  manners.  He 


11 

established  a  chain-gang,  and  attaching  a  chain  and  large  ball  to  the 
ankles  of  the  criminals,  that  they  might  not  escape,  set  them,  to  work  at 
improving  the  public  streets,  thus  compelling  them  to  earn  their  keeping, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  be  serviceable  to  the  community.  This  company 
became  a  feature  of  the  place.  The  people  of  the  city  appreciated  these 
efforts,  and  even  those  who  suffered  admitted  the  justice  of  the  Alcalde's 
decrees.  Of  twenty-five  hundred  civil  and  criminal  cases  tried  by  him,  not 
more  than  a  dozen  appeals  were  taken  from  his  decisions,  and  not  one  of 
these  was  ever  sustained.  Throughout  the  whole  period  of  his  arduous 
labors  he  exercised  an  unwavering  firmness,  and  discharged  his  duties 
regardless  of  feelings  of  preference  or  claims  of  friendship. " 

Chosen  first  Mayor  of  San  Francisco, 

The  first  city  charter  having  been  adopted  May  1,  1850,  Judge  Geary 
was  elected  first  Mayor  of  San  Francisco  by  a  very  flattering  majority. 
During  his  official  term  he  rendered  most  valuable  service  in  the  work  of 
perfecting  the  municipal  organization  ;  restrained  all  tendency  to  extrava- 
gant expenditure  of  the  public  funds  ;  nobly  sustained  the  city's  credit ; 
hastened  with  a  few  citizen  soldiery  to  Sacramento  and  quelled  some  seri- 
ous riots  there ;  and  for  his  almost  superhuman  efforts  to  save  the  city, 
during  the  great  conflagration,  he  received  the  grateful  acknowledgments 
of  the  people,  and  the  highest  encomiums  of  the  public  press  without  dis- 
tinction of  party.  Toward  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office  Mayor  Geary 
received  a  communication,  numerously  signed  by  influential  business  firms 
and  respectable  citizens  of  every  hue  and  shade  of  political  opinion,  re- 
questing him  to  consent  to  be  a  candidate  for  re-election.  But,  while 
entertaining  a  grateful  sense  of  the  honor  that  was  done  him  by  such  an 
expression,  he  felt  himself  obliged  to  decline  the  request.  He  was  pre- 
vailed on,  however,  to  accept  a  place  in  the  Board  of  Commissioners, 
which  had  been  created  by  the  Legislature  for  the  management  of  the 
funded  debt  of  the  city,  and  served  as  their  President.  In  this  position 
he  did  much  to  create  a  feeling  of  confidence  in  the  city's  securities,  and 
to  induce  a  belief  in  the  public  mind  that  she  would  keep  the  faith  which 
had  been  plighted  to  her  creditors. 

Secures  the  Adoption  of  a  Free  State  Constitution  for  California. 

The  services  of  Colonel  Geary  to  the  young  and  rapidly  growing  com- 
munity on  the  Pacific  had  been  of  great  value,  and,  as  has  been  seen,  they 
were  duly  appreciated  and  acknowledged  by  his  fellow-citizens  of  all  par- 
ties. But  the  most  important  service  that  distinguished  his  residence  on 
that  coast  remains  to  be  stated.  On  the  1st  of  September,  1849,  a  Con- 
vention of  Delegates  assembled  at  Monterey  to  form  a  State  Constitution. 
This  body  included  the  best  talent  and  ripest  political  experience  of  the 
territory.  Robert  Semple,  Esq.,  was  chosen  President,  and  Captain  Win. 
G.  Marcy,  Secretary.  The  Convention  completed  its  work  in  a  little  more 
than  one  month,  and  closed  its  session  on  the  13th  of  October.  Colonel 
Geary  was  not  a  member  of  the  Convention,  bat  occupied  such  a  position 


12 

in  the  eye  of  the  public  at  large,  and  held  such  relations  to  his  party  (the 
Democratic)  as  enabled  him  to  exert  a  very  potent  influence  upon  its 
transactions.  How  he  exerted  that  influence,  and  what  it  was  worth  to 
California  and  the  whole  country,  will  be  understood  when  it  is  stated 
that,  as  Chairman  of  the  Democratic  Territorial  Committee,  he  was  mainly 
instrumental  in  securing  the  Free  State  clause  in  the  newly  framed  Consti- 
tution, and  the  reference  of  that  document  to  the  people  for  their  sanction. 
In  order  to  obtain  this  inestimable  triumph  for  the  great  principle  of  free- 
dom Colonel  Geary  merely  conceded  to  its  opponents  the  temporary  and 
trifling  advantage  of  the  election  of  the  two  Senators  that  were  to  repre- 
sent the  new  State  in  the  Federal  Congress.  From  the  foregoing  narrative 
it  will  be  seen  what  one  patriotic,  capable,  and  earnest  man  may,  in  a 
very  short  period  of  time,  accomplish  for  his  country.  John  W.  Geary 
passed  through  the  "  Golden  Gate,"  landing  at  San  Francisco  on  the  1st 
day  of  April,  1849,  and  left  California  on  the  1st  day  of  February,  1852. 
In  less  than  three  years  he  had  achieved  more  than  most  men  achieve  in  a 
lifetime  of  three  score  and  ten. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CIVIL  EECOED  CONTINUED,    (Kansas,) 
Early  Difficulties, 

It  is  not  proposed  in  a  sketch,  so  brief  as  the  present,  to  attempt  a 
history,  nor  even  anything  that  could  be  properly  styled  an  outline,  of 
political  troubles  in  Kansas.  It  will  be  necessary,  however,  to  present  a 
few  preliminary  facts  in  order  to  a  satisfactory  understanding  of  what  has 
now  passed  into  our  history  as  Geary's  administration  of  the  civil  govern- 
ment of  that  territory. 

The  memorable  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  introduced  and  advocated  by 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  after  being  discussed  with  ability  and  eloquence, 
vehemence  and  passion,  rarely  equalled,  finally  passed  both  houses  of  Con- 
gress, and  on  the  30th  of  May,  1854,  received  the  signature  of  President 
Pierce.  As  must  have  been  foreseen  by  its  author,  and  its  advocates,  in 
re-opening  the  whole  vexed  question  of  slavery  extension,  it  produced 
great  excitement  in  political  parties,  in  social  circles,  in  the  pulpit,  and 
in  the  press  all  over  the  country.  Pro-slavery  men  on  one  hand,  and 
anti-slavery  men  on  the  other,  at  once  commenced  operations ;  the  former 
to  settle  Kansas  with  a  population  in  favor  of  slavery  ;  and  the  latter  with 
a  population  opposed  to  it.  In  the  slave  States  secret  organizations  were 
formed  with  the  design  of  introducing  slavery,  and  in  the  free  States 
11  Emigrant  Aid  Societies"  were  organized  to  introduce  settlers  who  would 
vote  for  its  exclusion.  In  view  of  these  circumstances  it  may  be  readily 
conjectured  that  the  emigrant  parties,  having  been  heated  by  discussion 
at  the  two  extremes  of  the  country,  would  not  long  dwell  peacefully  to- 


13 

gether  in  the  same  neighborhood.  And,  as  was  the  anticipation,  so  was 
the  reality.  On  the  Gth  of  October,  1854,  the  very  day  on  which  Andrew 
H.  Reeder,  Esq.,  first  Governor  of  the  Territory,  arrived,  a  party  of  pro- 
slavery  men  came  from  Westport  to  Lawrence  with  intent  to  disperse  the 
Free  State  men,  who  had  founded  that  town  and  settled  the  adjacent 
country.  The  invaders  demanded  that  the  "abolitionists"  should  abandon 
their  cabins,  strike  their  tents,  and  leave  the  territory.  But  greatly  to 
the  surprise  of  the  slave-driving  chivalry,  the  freedom-loving  Yankees, 
instead  of  obeying  orders,  prepared  to  fight  in  defence  of  their  property 
and  their  families. 

The  Contending  Parties  seek  to  Conciliate  the  Governor, 

As  soon  as  the  Governor  arrived  each  party  had  an  interview,  stated 
its  grievances,  and  volunteered  such  suggestions  as  seemed  good  to  itf 
respecting  what  should  be  the  course  of  his  administration.  But  that  high 
official  knew  his  duty  quite  as  well  as  his  advisers,  and  was  not  to  be 
turned  from  his  purpose  to  discharge  it.  The  Act  of  Congress,  creating 
a  government  for  Kansas,  provided  that  the  actual  settlers  of  the  Terri- 
tory should  decide  for  themselves,  by  vote,  whether  slavery  should  or 
should  not  exist  within  its  bounds.  To  this  act  Governor  Reeder  was 
inflexibly  determined  to  conform.  The  result  was  that  as  soon  as  his  lino 
of  policy  became  known  the  pro-slavery  settlers  banded  together  against 
him.  All  they  could  do  they  did  to  annoy  him  personally.  All  they 
could  do  they  did  to  defeat  his  endeavors  to  administer  the  laws  which 
he  had  been  commissioned  to  execute.  They  even  carried  their  political 
opposition  to  personal  violence.  A  certain  ruffian,  bearing  the  name  of 
Stringfellow,  and  the  title  of  General,  assaulted  and  beat  the  Governor 
severely  in  his  own  office.  Meanwhile  complaints  had  been  lodged  against 
that  impartial  functionary  at  Washington,  and  he  was  removed  from  his 
position.  During  the  interval  which  elapsed  between  the  removal  of  Gov- 
ernor Reeder  and  the  arrival  of  his  successor — Wilson  Shannon — Daniel 
Woodson,  Secretary  of  the  Territory,  acted  as  governor,  and  exercised  his 
authority  in  strict  accordance  with  the  preferences  and  interests  of  the 
pro-slavery  party. 

Gov.  Shannon  assumed  his  official  duties  September  1,  1855.  Whatever 
may  have  been  his  personal  desires  and  aims,  he  was  certainly  not  the 
man  to  govern  such  a  community  as  that  of  Kansas  Territory.  Under 
his  administration,  therefore,  the  passions  of  the  contending  parties  were 
more  intensely  inflamed.  Affairs  daily  became  more  complicated.  Con- 
fusion was  worse  confounded.  There  was  110  excess  of  crime  that  was 
left  unperpetrated  by  the  pro-slavery  "Border  Ruffians" — as  they  had 
come  to  be  distinctively  known,  and  shamelessly  to  designate  themselves. 
Theft,  rape,  arson,  highway  robbery,  and  murder,  were  crimes  with  which 
this  self-styled  chivalry  almost  daily  stained  its  hands.  The  issue  which 
the  pro-slavery  men  were  resolved  to  force  upon  the  Territory  is  thus 
stated  by  an  eye-witness: — "  It  was  of  little  consequence  what  number  of 
Northern  men  might  locate  themselves  in  Kansas.  It  was  assumed  that 


14 

the}'  had  no  right  to  come  there,  unless  with  the  intention  of  assisting  to 
make  it  a  slave  State.  If  they  would  not  pledge  themselves  to  that  object 
they  were  abolitionists,  allies  of  disunionism,  and  deserving  of  death ;  and 
so  far  from  being  a  crime,  it  was  a  virtue  to  kill  them." 

Conflicting  Authorities, 

Meanwhile,  in  the  midst  of  all  this,  and  partly  productive  of  this  state 
of  things,  there  were  two  legislative  bodies,  each  claiming  to  be  the  legally 
constituted  law-making  power  of  the  Territory.  First,  the  pro-slavery 
legislature  convened  at  Lecompton,  January  12th,  1857,  elected  mainly  by 
Missouri  voters ;  Secondly,  the  free  State  legislature  convened  at  Topeka, 
January  6th,  1857.  As  a  sanction  for  legislative  authority  each  party  ha  1 
adopted  a  State  constitution.  In  alluding  to  these  shameful  circumstances 
it  is  not  pretended  that  the  free  State  party  had  not  also  been  guilty  of 
great  excesses.  They  had.  But  there  was  this  palliation  for  their  conduct. 
They  had  been  driven  to  violent  measures  in  pure  self-defence.  Their  ene- 
mies were  determined  either  to  drive  them  from  the  Territory  or  destroy 
them.  And  when  the  pro-slavery  men  could  not  enlist  the  sympathies  of 
the  governor,  in  favor  of  their  object,  they  combined  against  him,  and 
sought  to  drive  him  from  his  office.  They  had  succeeded  in  having 
Governor  Reeder  removed ;  and  as  Governor  Shannon,  though  in  sympa- 
thy with  their  opinions,  could  not  be  carried  to  their  extreme  lengths  in 
support  of  the  views  which  they  mutually  entertained,  they  petitioned  for 
his  removal  also.  And  before  their  request  had  been  granted,  or  rather, 
before  their  knowledge  of  it,  they  threatened  him  until  he  fled  from  his 
post  through  fear  of  assassination.  What  a  story  !  What  fearful  days 
it  foreshadowed!  Voters  had  committed  perjury;  houses  had  been 
burned  ;  crops  had  been  destroyed  ;  churches  had  been  desecrated  ;  women 
had  been  outraged ;  men  had  been  murdered ;  battles  had  been  fought ! 
Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  Col.  John  W.  Geary  was  appointed 
Governor  of  Kansas. 

Appointed  Governor  of  Kansas  Territory, 

He  received  his  commission,  in  July,  1856,  his  appointment  having  been 
confirmed  by  the  Senate  without  the  usual  reference  to  a  committee.  He 
was  now  to  assume  the  duties  of  a  position  more  difficult  than  any  he  had 
hitherto  occupied.  The  story  of  his  administration  may  soon  be  told.  It 
consists  of  the  formidable  difficulties  he  was  obliged  to  encounter,  and  of 
the  spirit  and  means  by  which  he  overcame  them.  His  preparations  for 
the  journey  were  made  with  his  usual  dispatch. 

About  the  same  date  of  Governor  Geary's  departure  from  Washington, 
Mr.  Woodson,  Secretary  of  State,  and  acting  governor  of  Kansas,  issued 
a  proclamation,  declaring  the  Territory  to  be  in  a  state  of  rebellion,  and 
summoning  the  militia  to  arms  to  suppress  it.  As  the  governor  ascended 
the  Missouri  river,  he  met  Ex-Governor  Shannon  on  his  way  down  the 
river,  flying  for  his  life.  Besides  this,  when  the  steamer  arrived  at  Glas- 
gow, on  the  Missouri  shore,  Captain  Jackson  canie  on  board  with  an  armed 


16 

company  of  sixty  men,  en-route  for  Kansas,  to  aid  in  the  work  of  driving 
out  or  exterminating  the  "  abolitionists." 

Arrives  at  Fort  Leavenworth, 

The  Governor  reached  Fort  Leavenworth  September  9th,  1856.  On  the 
very  day  of  his  arrival  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Secretary  Marcy,  in  these  words : — 
"  I  arrived  here  this  morning,  and  have  passed  the  day  mostly  in  consulta- 
tation  with  General  Persifer  F.  Smith,  in  relation  to  the  affairs  of  the  Terri- 
tory, which,  as  I  am  now  on  the  spot,  I  begin  to  more  clearly  understand. 

"  I  find  that  I  have  not  simply  to  contend  against  bands  of  armed 
ruffians  and  brigands,  whose  sole  aim  and  end  is  assassination  and  robbery, 
infatuated  adherents  and  advocates  of  conflicting  political  sentiments  and 
local  institutions,  and  evil  disposed  persons,  actuated  by  adesire  to  obtain 
elevated  positions ;  but  worst  of  all,  against  the  influence  of  men  who  have 
been  placed  in  authority,  and  have  employed  all  the  destructive  agents 
around  them  to  promote  their  own  personal  interests,  at  the  sacrifice 
of  every  just,  honorable  and  lawful  consideration.  The  town  of  Leaven- 
worth  is  now  in  the  hands  of  armed  bodies  of  men,  who,  having  been  enrolled 
as  militia,  perpetrate  outrages  of  the  most  atrocious  character  under  shadow 
of  authority  from  the  territorial  government." 

The  facts  of  the  case  alluded  to  in  this  extract,  were  simply  that  the 
pro-slavery  party,  in  their  violent  attempts  to  drive  the  free-soil  settlers 
from  the  Territory,  had  obliged  them  to  take  up  arms  in  self-defence,  and 
then  the  acting  governor  (Woodson)  had  called  out  the  militia  (meaning 
the  pro-slavery  men)  to  put  down  a  rebellion  (meaning  the  anti-slavery 
men),  who  had  taken  up  arms  to  defend  their  property,  homes,  and  lives. 

The  Situation, 

To  sum  up  the  facts  of  the  situation,  which  must  be  done  briefly  as 
possible,  Governor  Geary  found  the  Territory  in  arms — a  violent  and 
utterly  lawless  party,  bent  upon  the  triumph  of  their  policy  in  defiance 
alike  of  the  Acts  of  Congress,  and  the  laws  of  the  Territory — and  another 
party,  not  lawless,  but  equally  determined  to  maintain  their  rights  as 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas.  These 
perplexing  and  most  disagreeable  circumstances,  calling  for  the  prompt 
and  decided  action  of  the  Governor,  were  greatly  aggravated  by  the  facts 
that  the  sympathies  and  co-operation  of  the  people  of  Missouri  were 

violently  enlisted  in  behalf  of  their  pro-slavery  brethren  in  Kansas and 

that  the  Legislature,  and  the  United  States  Judges  of  that  Territory,  were 
furiously  and  blindly  committed  to  the  same  side, 

"Equal  and  Exact  Justice  to  All,"  to  be  the  Cardinal  Principle  of 

His  Administration, 

Governor  Geary,  always  quick-sighted,  prompt  and  practical,  was  not 
long  in  ascertaining  the  true  state  of  public  affairs,  nor  in  deciding  upon 
the  course  which  he  ought  to  pursue.  Having  duly  informed  himself,  and 
calmly  made  up  his  mind,  he  fearlessly  announced  his  policy.  In  a  public 


16 

address  at  Lecompton,  he  said  :  "  I  appear  among  you,  a  stranger  to  most 
of  yon,  and  for  the  first  time  have  the  honor  to  address  you  as  Governor 
of  the  Territory  of  Kansas.  The  position  was  not  sought  by  me,  but  was 
voluntarily  tendered  by  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Nation.  As  an  Ameri- 
can citizen,  deeply  conscious  of  the  blessings  which  ever  flow  from  our 
beloved  Union,  I  did  not  consider  myself  at  liberty  to  shrink  from  any 
duties,  however  delicate  and  onerous,  required  of  me  by  my  country. 
With  a  full  knowledge  of  all  the  circumstances  surrounding  the  executive 
office,  I  have  deliberately  accepted  it,  and  as  God  may  give  me  strength 
and  ability,  I  will  endeavor  to  faithfully  discharge  its  varied  requirements. 

"The  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the  organic  law  of  the 
Territory,  will  be  the  lights  by  which  I  shall  be  guided  in  my  executive 
career." 

The  same  just  and  patriotic  sentiments  pervaded  his  first  annual  mes- 
sage to  the  territorial  assembly.  "  I  will  administer,"  said  he,  "  equal  and 
exact  justice  to  all  men,  of  whatever  political  party  or  religious  persuasion." 
Upon  this  eternal  principle  the  Governor  took  his  stand  at  the  outset,  and 
there  he  maintained  himself  to  the  last.  And  as  he  had  good  reason  to 
anticipate,  this  faithful  attitude  roused,  and  combined  against  him,  all 
those  elements  of  violence  and  disorder  which  had  disgraced  the  Territory 
prior  to  his  assumption  of  its  government.  But  he  who  is  right  need 
never  fear,  and  the  ,new  Governor  was  not  only  right,  but  prompt,  and 
capable  in  all  matters  of  administration  to  a  degree  that  has  seldom  fallen 
to  the  lot  of  man  required  to  govern  his  fellow-mortals. 

An  army  of  three  thousand  men  had  come  to  destroy  the  free  State  town 
of  Lawrence,  and  in  the  less  pious  and  elegant,  than  vehement  and  forcible 
language  of  that  section,  "  to  wipe  out  the  d. d  abolitionists." 

The  Governor  rode  into  their  camp,  at  Franklin,  unattended,  assumed 
command  of  the  forces,  and  addressing  to  them  some  earnest  words  of 
patriotic  and  loyal  counsel,  disbanded  and  sent  them  to  their  homes. 
When  he  approached  their  lines  he  did  not  know  whether  they  would 
shoot  him  or  acknowledge  his  authority.  It  was  an  extremely  critical 
case.  It  required  great  presence  of  mind.  But  he  was  equal  to  the 
situation.  Lecompte,  a  third-rate  Maryland  lawyer,  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Territory,  used  his  authority  both  under  and  above,  within  and  beyond 
the  law,  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  pro-slavery  cause.  But  the 
Governor  overruled  his  decisions.  The  Legislature  enacted  laws  directly 
in  conflict  with  the  Federal  Constitution  and  the  organic  law  of  the  Terri- 
tory. But  the  Governor  vetoed  them. 

Finally,  perceiving  that  opposition,  personal  and  official,  would  not 
drive  him  from  his  just  purposes,  they  changed  their  tactics,  and  if  he 
would  favor  the  pro-slavery  policy  they  promised  that  he  should  be 
Senator  from  the  new  State  in  the  Federal  Congress.  But  to  the  man 
who  had  the  audacity  to  make  to  him  this  proposition,  the  Governor 
declared,  should  he  have  the  infamous  assurance  to  repeat  it,  he  would 
pitch  him  through  the  window. 


17  ! 

Peace  Kestored  to  Kansas. 

Governor  Geary,  as  we  have  seen,  assumed  the  functions  of  office 
September  9th,  1856.  Three  weeks  from  that  day,  owing  to  his  vigorous 
and  skilful  measures,  he  was  enabled  to  make  to  Secretary  Marcy  the 
announcement  contained  in  the  following  lines : 

"  Peace  now  reigns  in  Kansas.  Confidence  is  gradually  being  restored. 
Settlers  are  returning  to  their  claims.  Citizens  are  resuming  their  ordi- 
nary pursuits,  and  a  general  gladness  pervades  the  community." 

His  administration  was  brief,  terminating  in  six  months  from  the  date 
of  its  inauguration.  In  this  short  space  of  time  he  had  suppressed  all 
organized  violence,  and  restored  the  supremacy  of  the  Federal  and  terri- 
torial laws.  It  must,  therefore,  have  been  with  a  proud  and  grateful  sense 
of  satisfaction  that  he  was  able  to  say  to  Secretary  Marcy,  in  his  last 
official  communication  to  that  gentleman : 

"  In  this  state  of  affairs  the  most  vigorous  and  determined  action  on 
my  part  seemed  the  only  remedy  for  the  growing  evils.  Impartial  justice 
'will  ever  commend  itself  to  every  American  citizen  worthy  to  bear  the  name. 
To  disband  armed  bodies  of  men  assembled  under  color  of  law,  and  dis- 
perse others  brought  into  antagonistic  existence  without  authority,  both 
inflamed  by  the  most  exciting  of  questions,  and  both  committing  outrages 
which  all  good  men  must  deplore,  required  neither  hesitation  nor  fear. 

"  I  am  most  happy  to  inform  you,  that  in  order  to  calm  these  disturbing 
elements,  and  bring  the  people  back  to  sober  reason,  I  have  not  been 
obliged  to  resort  to  an}'  measures  unknown  to  the  law,  and  not  covered 
by  the  spirit  and  letter  of  my  instructions.  It  is  also  a  matter  of  special 
gratification  to  be  able  to  say,  that  since  my  arrival  here  peace  has  been 
restore^,  and  the  fierce  passions  of  man  soothed,  without  the  shedding  of 
one  drop  of  fratricidal  blood. 

"  The  peace  of  the  Territory  is  now  placed  upon  a  permanent  basis,  all 
parties  at  length  having  relinquished  the  idea  of  a  resort  to  arms,  and 
agreeing  to  refer  the  adjustment  of  all  political  disputes  to  the  ballot-box, 
or  other  lawful  expedients. " 

These  lines  were  written  as  Franklin  Pierce  was  preparing  to  vacate  the 
Presidential  Mansion.  And  being  satisfied,  from  intelligence  which  he 
could  not  doubt,  that  the  incoming  Administration  would  endeavor  to 
force  a  pro-slavery  policy  upon  Kansas,  contrary  to  the  organic  law,  and 
the  wishes  of  a  majority  of  the  territorial  residents,  on  the  very  day  of 
James  Buchanan's  inauguration  Governor  Geary  forwarded  to  the  newly- 
installed  chief  magistrate  the  following  letter  of  resignation : 

"EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  KANSAS  TERRITORY, 

"  LECOMPTON,  March  4th,  1857. 
"His  EXCELLENCY,  JAMES  BUCHANAN, 

u  President  of  the  United  States. 

"  DEAR  SIR  : — Please  accept  my  resignation  as  Governor  of  Kansas  Ter- 
ritory, to  take  effect  on  the  20th  of  the  present  month,  by  which  time  you 
will  be  enabled  to  select  and  appoint  a  proper  successor. 

"  With  high  respects,  your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

«  inirxr  w   ni?  A 


18 

Thus  terminated  one  of  the  most  trying  and  difficult,  and  }^et  most  suc- 
cessful and  triumphant  acts  in  the  public  life  of  the  man  whom  the  patri- 
otic  and  loyal  people  of  Pennsylvania,  both  civilians  and  soldiers,  desire  to 
honor.  Let  it  speak  for  him.  From  it  might  be  predicted  the  course  he 
would  pursue  in  the  dreadful  contest  which  treason  and  traitors  were  a 
few  years  later  about  to  wage  against  the  Union,  and  against  those  prin- 
ciples of  constitutional  liberty  which  he  had  so  ably  and  successfully  main- 
tained in  California  and  Kansas.  And  his  civil  administration  of  the 
affairs  of  these  two  Territories  under  circumstances  of  so  much  disorder 
and  difficulty,  clearly  show  his  capacity  to  administer  the  affairs  of  our 
beloved  Commonwealth,  in  these  happier  days  of  order,  peace  and  pros- 
perity. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

MILITAET  OAEEEE.    (Mexico.) 

All  who  are  conversant  with  the  political  history  of  that  period  well 
remember  that  the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  Federal  Union  was  strongly 
opposed  by  many  of  the  leading  public  journals,  and  by  some  of  the  most 
able  and  influential  members  of  Congress  in  both  Houses,  on  the  ground 
that  it  would  certainly  provoke  a  war  with  the  Republic  of  Mexico.  The 
passion  for  territorial  aggrandizement,  however,  proved  too  strong  for 
successful  resistance,  especially  as  the  accession  presented  to  our  Southern 
statesmen  that  most  tempting  bait — an  opportunity  to  add,  in  due  time, 
new  slave  States  to  the  then  existing  fifteen.  Joint  resolution*  for  the 
admission  of  Texas  passed  the  House  of  Representatives,  February  25th; 
and  the  Senate,  March  1st,  1845,  and  were  approved  by  President  Tyler  the 
same  day.  The  independence  of  Texas  had  never  been  acknowledged  by 
Mexico,  and  though  that  government  had  no  hope  of  reconquering  and 
restoring  the  Texans  to  their  former  allegiance,  the  act  of  incorporation 
by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  naturally  tended  to  produce  estrange- 
ment and  unfriendliness  between  the  two  countries. 

The  immediate  cause  of  rupture,  however,  was  a  question  of  boundary. 
The  Mexicans  maintained  that  Texas  had  never  been  recognized  by  them 
as  extending  beyond  the  river  Nueces,  while  the  United  States  claimed  the 
Rio  Grande  as  her  legitimate  line  of  frontier.  At  the  beginning  of  Mr. 
Polk's  administration,  he  found  the  two  governments  involved  in  this 
dispute,  and  being  resolved  to  make  good  the  American  claim,  ordered 
General  Zachary  Taylor,  with  a  small  force,  to  occupy  the  region  lying 
between  the  Nueces  and  the  Rio  Grande.  In  April,  1846,  a  slight  col- 
lision occurred  between  the  troops  of  General  Taylor,  and  those  of  the 
Mexican  commander,  General  Arista.  When  the  news  of  this  event 
reached  Washington,  the  President  immediately  sent  a  special  message  to 
Congress,  declaring  that  "war  existed  by  the  act  of  Mexico,"  and  asking 
for  men  and  money  to  carry  it  on.  Congress,  in  response,  promptly  ap- 


19 

propriated  $10,000,000,  and  gave  authority  to  call  out  50,000  volunteers. 
The  rashness  of  General  Arista,  in  crossing  the  Rio  Grande,  had  furnished 
the  very  occasion  which  President  Polk,  and  the  friends  of  his  administra- 
tion, most  ardently  desired.  And  the  results  of  the  contest,  thus  inau- 
gurated, proved  very  soon  that  the  Mexicans  had  either  greatly  overrated 
themselves,  or  greatly  underrated  the  resources  and  warlike  prowess  of 
their  Anglo-American  neighbors. 

Geary  Enlists  in  the  Service  of  his  Country, 

At  the  commencement  of  hostilities,  John  W  Geary  was  employed  as 
Civil  Engineer,  and  Superintendent  of  the  Allegheny  Portage  Railroad. 
His  temporary  residence  was  in  Cambria  county;  and  quickly  respond- 
ing to  the  first  call  for  volunteers,  he  recruited  a  company  there,  in  a 
few  days,  which  he  organized  under  the  name  of  "American  Highlanders." 
This  company  was  attached  to  the  Second  regiment,  Pennsylvania  volun- 
teers. Immediately  upon  the  organization  of  the  regiment,  Captain  Geary 
was  elected  Lieutenant-colonel.  This  election  may  be  regarded  as  strong 
proof  of  the  confidence  which  officers  and  privates  felt  in  his  soldierly 
qualities,  and  was  far  more  complimentary  to  him  than  if  he  had  received 
his  promotion  at  the  hand  of  executive  authority.  This  regiment  joined 
the  arm}''  of  General  Scott,  at  Yera  Cruz,  and  was  attached  to  the  division 
commanded  by  General  Quitman.  The  events  of  the  campaign  which  fol- 
lowed, are  as  familiar  as  household  words  to  every  American  reader.  The 
victories  achieved  by  the  gallantry  of  American  soldiers,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  their  great  chief,  need  not  be  repeated  here.  They  are  embalmed 
in  the  country's  history,  and  will  inscribe,  for  all  time,  on  the  page  of  glory, 
the  name  of  that  inflexible  patriot,  and  consummate  Captain,  who  has  so 
recently  gone  to  his  rest,  followed  by  the  proud  and  grateful  benedictions 
of  his  countrymen. 

Under  the  orders  of  Quitman,  Colonel  Geary  distinguished  himself  for 
personal  gallantry  and  military  skill,  particularly  in  the  bloody  battles 
of  La  Hoya,  Cerro  Gorda,  Chepultepec  and  Garita  de  Belen.  And  when 
Quitman,  always  foremost,  stormed  the  defences  of  the  Capital,  Geary  and 
his  Pennsylvanians  were  in  the  van,  and  charged  shoulder  to  shoulder  with 
the  Southern  braves,  whom  they  have  since  met  and  vanquished  on  still 
more  fiercely-contested  fields. 

Colonel  Roberts  having  died,  Geary  was  elected  colonel  of  the  regi- 
ment— his  gallant  companions  thus  giving  him  the  highest  mark  of  their 
confidence,  in  their  power  to  bestow,  after  they  had  seen  him  so  fully  tested, 
under  the  fatigues  of  the  march,  and  amid  the  thunders  of  battle.  In  the 
appointments  to  posts  of  duty  and  honor,  which  followed  the  occupation 
of  the  city,  Colonel  Geary,  in  consideration  of  the  valuable  services  he 
had  rendered  in  the  capture,  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  great 
citadel  of  the  Capital,  and  his  commission  as  colonel,  dated  on  the  same 
memorable  spot,  and  bestowed  for  the  same  reason,  was  the  first  ever 
received  by  an  American  in  the  city  of  the  Montezumas.  It  may  not  be 
Hie  last ! 


20 

It  was  with  Geary  in  Mexico  as  in  California — his  bravery,  ability  and 
integrity  won  for  him  that  promotion  to  which  an  honorable  ambition 
induced  him  to  aspire.  He  left  his  peaceful  home  in  Cambria  county,  as 
captain  of  his  Highland  company,  and  returned  to  it  as  colonel  of  the 
Second  regiment  of  Pennsylvania  volunteers. 


MILITAEY  EEOOED,    Continued, 

W  f  4.1.       -D    I.    IT 

War  of  the  .Rebellion, 

On  the  12th  of  April,  1861,  treason  opened  her  batteries  on  Fort  Sumter 
and  a  war  began,  which  may  safely  challenge  its  parallel  in  all  history. 
Any  one  who  knew  the  principles  and  character,  the  private  and  public 
antecedents  of  John  W.  Geary,  could  not  have  been  at  a  loss  to  determine 
which  side  he  would  take  in  such  a  conflict. 

Colonel  Geary  was  at  his  rural  home  in  Westmoreland,  when  the  thun- 
ders of  .armed  treason  first  broke  upon  the  ear  of  the  nation.  His  life- 
long political  views  and  convictions,  his  high-toned  and  oft-tried  patriotism, 
and  the  natural  promptings  of  his  military  genius,  all  conspired  to  urge 
him  to  the  field.  He  accordingly  at  once  proceeded  to  Philadelphia  for 
the  purpose  of  recruiting  a  regiment,  believing  that  he  would  have  greater 
facilities  there  for  the  speedy  accomplishment  of  his  purpose,  than  in  the 
country  districts.  As  soon  as  it  was  generally  known  through  the  State 
that  he  had  been  commissioned  by  President  Lincoln  to  organize  a  regi- 
ment, he  received  applications  from  no  less  than  sixty -six  companies, 
soliciting  permission  to  join  his  command.  Owing  to  these  numerous  and 
urgent  requests,  he  was  permitted  to  raise  his  regiment  to  the  standard 
of  sixteen  companies,  with  one  battery  of  six  guns,  making  the  organiza- 
tion, when  complete,  to  consist  of  seventeen  hundred  officers  and  men. 
The  artillery  company,  which  formed  a  part  of  the  regiment,  was  that 
which  subsequently  became  so  celebrated  throughout  the  country  as 
"Knapp's  Battery." 

Ordered  to  the  Front— Battle  of  Bolivar, 

Immediately  upon  the  equipment  of  his  command,  Colonel  Geary  re- 
ceived orders  to  proceed  to  Harper's  Ferry,  with  instructions  to  report  to 
General  Banks.  Having  joined  Banks'  corps,  he  was  by  order  of  that 
General  assigned  to  the  command  of  Mainland  Heights,  with  a  force  con- 
sisting of  one  thousand  men  and  four  guns.  In  this  position  he  first 
unsheathed  his  sword,  and  first  shed  his  own  blood,  in  that  gigantic  war 
which  was  so  signally  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  ballot,  and  estab- 
lish the  authority  of  the  national  constitution.  Here,  with  his  small  force, 
on  the  16th  of  October,  1861,  he  fought  the  battle  of  Bolivar  against  an 
assailing  force,  consisting  of  five  thousand  men  and  seven  guns,  under 
command  of  Generals  Ashby  and  Evans,  and  severely  repulsed  the  enemy, 
after  an  engagement  which  lasted  nearly  eight  hours.  During  the  action 
the  colonel  was  wounded  in-  the  right  knee,  and  his  command  suffered 


21 

severely  from  the  repeated  and  furious  efforts  of  their  assailants.  But 
his  superior  officers,  and  his  country,  could  congratulate  him  upon  having 
corrected  a  serious  mistake  into  which  the  self-confident  rebels  had  fallen. 
They  had  boasted  that  they  would  undertake  to  whip  the  Union  forces  in 
the  ratio  of  five  to  one ;  and  there  were  some  Union  commanders  against 
whom  they  made  good  their  boast,  but  it  was  obvious  that  the  command- 
ing spirit  at  Bolivar  was  not  of  that  number.  In  fact,  Colonel  Geary  had 
completely  reversed  the  scale  upon  which  they  had  made  their  vaunting 
calculations.  With  one  thousand  men  and  four  guns,  he  had  severely 
beaten  five  thousand  rebels  with  seven  guns.  As  a  beginning  that  was 
doing  well. 

Battle  of  Leesburg— Appointed  Brigadier-General, 

The  gallant,  obstinate,  and  successful  defence  of  his  position  at  Bolivar, 
induced  the  assignment  of  Col.  Geary  to  the  command  of  the  advance,  in 
the  movement  shortly  after  made,  into  the  head  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley, 
in  the  spring  of  1862.  On  the  8th  of  March  he  bore  a  conspicuous  part  in 
the  battle  which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  Leesburg,  and  led  the  van  of 
the  Union  column  in  the  subsequent  operations,  by  which  the  rebel  forces 
were  obliged  to  evacuate  all  the  towns  north  of  the  Rappahannock,  and 
were  dislodged  from  their  strongholds  at  Snicker's,  Ashby's,  Manassas 
and  Chester  Gaps,  in  the  range  of  the  Blue  Mountains.  These  valuable  re- 
sults were  achieved  while  Stonewall  Jackson  was  within  striking  distance 
at  Winchester;  and  for  the  services  which  Colonel  Geary  rendered  in  their 
accomplishment,  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier-general,  his 
commission  bearing  date  of  April  25th,  1862.  During  the  greater  part  of 
the  time  he  held  the  rank  of  colonel,  he  had  commanded  a  force  equal 
in  strength  to  a  brigade,  and  immediately  upon  his  promotion,  he  was 
assigned  to  the  command  of  the  1st  Brigade,  2d  Division,  2nd  Corps, 
General  C.  C.  Augur  being  Division  Commander,  and  Major-general  N.  P. 
Banks,  Commander  of  the  Corps. 

Battle  of  Cedar  Mountain, 

On  the  26th  of  June,  1862,  by  appointment  of  the  President,  Major- 
general  John  Pope  was  placed  in  command  of  the  army  of  Virginia, 
consisting  of  the  corps  of  Fremont,  Banks,  and  McDowell.  On  .the 
9th  of  August  Banks'  corps  had  a  severe  engagement  with  the  rebels, 
under  Stonewall  Jackson,  at  Cedar  Mountain.  The  weather  was  oppres- 
sively hot,  and  the  Union  troops  suffered  extremely  from  exhaustion,  as 
well  as  from  the  furious  assaults  of  that  self-deceived  man,  and  great 
soldier,  who  subsequently  proved  himself  to  be  the  most  active  and  capable 
of  all  their  antagonists.  Brigadier-general  Geary  was  again  wounded 
slightly  in  the  left  foot,  and  severely  in  the  right  arm.  The  battle  was 
obstinately  contested,  but  the  results  of  the  day  were  adverse  to  the  Union 
arms.  Meanwhile  Lee,  having  been  relieved  from  all  pressure  on  the 
south  side  of  Richmond  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac, 
under  McClellan,  rapidly  massed  his  troops  with  the  intention  of  falling 


22 

in  united  force  upon  Pope's  command.  Quickly  perceiving  the  danger  of 
his  position,  that  General  executed  a  hasty  but  well-conducted  retreat 
across  the  Rappahannock.  This  movement  was  effected  on  the  17th  and 
18th  of  August.  Lee  and  Jackson  hotly  pursued  the  retreating  forces, 
and  during  the  fifteen  days  following,  General  Pope  fought  them  with 
greatly  inferior  numbers  in  a  series  of  fiercely  sustained  but  disastrous 
actions,  at  Manassas  Junction,  Gainsville,  and  Chantilly,  known  as  the 
second  Battle  of  Bull  Run.  Those  were  dark  days  for  the  republic! 
Many  homes  were  shrouded  in  mourning  for  the  patriotic  and  gallant  dead 
who  fell  in  those  bloody  conflicts.  General  Stevens,  who  had  ranked  so 
highly  in  his  class  at  West  Point,  and  served  his  country  so  well  and 
bravely  in  the  field,  and  General  Phil  Kearny,  a  lion  in  the  day  of  battle 
the  pride  and  joy  of  every  patriotic  heart,  were  among  the  slain.  But 
Geary  survived  the  dangers  and  reverses  of  that  anxious  and  sorrowful 
period  to  win  fresh  laurels  on  other  and  more  glorious  fields. 

Appointed  to  the  command  of  the  2d  Division  12th  Corps, 

Shortly  after  the  battle  of  Antietam,  General  Banks  being  removed  tc 
another  and  more  important  command,  the  12th  corps  was  assigned  to 
General  Slocum,  and  Geary  was  promoted  to  the  command  of  its  2d 
division. 

Participates  gallantly  and  is  dangerously  wounded  in  the  great  battle 

of  Chancellor  sville, 

The  chief  command  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac  having  been  transferred 
to  Major-general  Burnside,  the  only  event  of  importance  which  distin- 
guished its  operations  while  subject  to  his  orders,  was  the  bloody  and 
unsuccessful  assault  upon  Lee's  formidable  lines  at  Fredericksburg.  The 
12th  corps  did  not  participate  in  that  action.  In  a  few  days  after  its 
occurrence,  Burnside  was  relieved  from  command,  at  his  own  request, 
and  was  succeeded  by  an  officer  distinguished  as  a  major-general,  and 
corps  commander,  but  more  familiarly  known,  in  and  out  of  the  army,  as 
''Fighting  Joe  Hooker."  The  public  expectation  was  considerably  elevated 
by  this  important  change,  and  though  the  new  commander  failed  to  achieve 
the  full  success  he  deserved,  he  fully  maintained  his  old  renown  for  fight- 
ing, and  the  reputation  of  an  able  general.  During  the  latter  part  of  winter 
and  the  first  months  of  spring,  General  Hooker,  having  put  his  army  in 
excellent  condition  and  formed  a  comprehensive  plan  of  campaign,  crossed 
the  Rappahannock  and  gave  Lee  battle  at  Chancellorsville  on  the  1st, 
2d,  and  3d  of  May,  1863.  The  results  of  the  first  and  second  day's  fight- 
ing were  not  decisive  for  either  of  the  contestants.  But  on  the  third  day 
the  battle  was  decided  against  the  National  forces  by  Stonewall  Jackson's 
celebrated  flank  movement,  and  assault  upon  the  extreme  right  of  Hooker's 
position.  As  will  ever  be  remembered,  Jackson  fell  at  the  close  of  that 
bloody  day,  and  the  indecisive  victory  of  the  rebels  was  won  at  the 
fatal  cost  of  the  red  right  arm  of  their  treasonable  and  blood-stained 
confederacy.  In  this  memorable  engagement,  the  12th  corpp.  maintained  a 


23 

conspicuous  part,  and  General  Geary,  at  the  head  of  the  2d  division,  was 
distinguished  for  his  coolness  and  courage  among  the  many  gallant  and 
faithful  leaders  of  the  patriot  hosts  who  so  nobly  vindicated  the  honor  of 
the  flag.  In  the  course  of  the  protracted  and  fearful  struggle,  he  was  noted 
for  the  almost  reckless  exposure  of  his  person,  and  for  the  resistless  fury 
with  which  he  several  times  led  his  division  against  the  ranks  of  the  con- 
fident and  stubborn  foe.  In  this  battle  he  was  wounded  in  the  right  breast 
by  the  fragment  of  a  shell,  and  so  serious  was  the  wound  in  its  character 
that  he  yet  despairs  of  ever  recovering  entirely  from  its  consequences.  It 
was  at  Chancellorsville  that  his  command  was  first  designated  as  the 
"White  Star"  division,  by  which  name  it  continued  to  be  known  till  its 
honorable  discharge  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

Lee's  Campaign  in  Pennsylvania— Battle  of  Gettysburg, 

The  battle  of  Chancellorsville  was  barren  of  results  to  the  rebel  com- 
mander-in-chief;  and  being  unable  to  draw  Hooker  from  the  positions, 
which  he  occupied  for  the  defence  of  Washington,  he  abandoned  his  in- 
tention of  attacking  that  city,  and  began  about  the  middle  of  June  to 
move  with  his  whole  force  towards  the  Pennsylvania  line.  Hooker  ob- 
served his  motions  very  keenly,  and  followed  rapidly  and  skillfully  upon 
his  footsteps,  as  Lee  acknowledged,  in  his  report  of  his  subsequent 
operations,  to  the  rebel  Secretary  of  War.  But  while  in  the  very  act 
of  moving  to  the  encounter,  General  Hooker  was  relieved,  and  Majoi- 
general  George  G.  Meade  was  invested  with  the  chief  command.  The 
public  mind,  alread}r  anxious  and  agitated  in  prospect  of  another  great, 
contest  of  arms,  was  rendered  still  more  so  by  the  intelligence  of  a  change 
of  commanders  at  such  a  critical  juncture.  But  the  appointment  of 
Meade  was  signally  justified  by  the  results  which  immediately  followed, 
and  from  the  heights  of  Gettysburg  his  name  will  pass  down  on  the  page 
of  his  country's  history,  until  the  end  of  recorded  time.  The  battle,  like 
that  of  Chancellorsville,  lasted  three  days,  being  fought  on  the  first, 
second  and  third  of  July.  On  the  morning  of  the  anniversary  of  the 
Nation's  Independence,  the  sun  rose  upon  a  scene,  such  as  the  eyes 
of  men  had  not  witnessed  since  the  dawn  that  lighted  the  plain  of 
Waterloo.  The  shattered  and  beaten  army  of  the  enemy  was  in  full 
retreat.  Its  hitherto  invincible  leader  had  staked  and  lost,  and  was 
never  to  win  another  victory.  In  that  great  battle,  fought  on  Pennsyl- 
vania soil,  nearly  all  the  loyal  States  were  represented,  and  Pennsylva- 
nia's noble  sons  eclipsed  the  renown  they  had  won  in  Mexico,  and  even 
transcended  the  heroic  deeds  of  their  revolutionary  sires.  By  forced 
marches  they  had  come  to  defend  their  hearthstones  and  family  altars ; 
covered  with  dust,  streaming  with  perspiration,  scorched  by  the  sun, 
hungry  and  weary,  but  panting  to  be  led  against  the  invading  hosts. 
Many  of  them  had  neither  shirts  on  their  backs,  nor  shoes  on  their  feet. 
Day  and  night  they  still  came  on.  By  daylight  of  the  second,  they  were 
.  assembled  in  force,  when  with  one  hasty  cup  of  coffee,  and  a  few  morsels 
of  hard  tack  and  bacon,  they  fell  into  line,  and  advanced  upon  treason's 


24 

proud  and  defiant  array.  On  the  distant  left  was  the  Potomac,  winding 
hard  by  the  sacred  spot  where  sleeps  the  dust  of  great  Washington.  In 
their  rear  was  their  metropolitan  city,  where  the  signers  had  put  their 
names  to  the  "Declaration,"  and  gave  a  new  nation,  endowed  with  rational 
freedom,  to  the  world. 

All  around  them  were  the  homes  of  their  loved  ones,  and  the  graves  of 
their  lamented  dead.  Their  very  muskets  seemed  to  be  inspired  by  the 
hour  and  the  situation.  The  humblest  private  rose  to  sublimest  deeds  of 
heroism.  Meade — a  Pennsylvanian — bore  the  responsibility  of  the  dread- 
ful hour.  Reynolds — a  Pennsylvanian — in  the  same  glorious  moment, 
gave  back  his  life  to  God,  and  received  the  palm  and  crown  of  immortality. 
Hancock,  Crawford  and  other  Pennsylvanians,  united  with  heroes  from 
the  other  loyal  States,  for  victory  in  this  fearful  struggle.  Geary — a 
Pennsylvanian — on  the  first  day  occupied  Round  Top,  and  was  the  first 
to  indicate  its  extreme  importance.  On  the  morning  of  the  second,  he 
was  ordered  to  Gulp's  Hill,  which  he  fortified ;  the  same  evening  he  was 
ordered  back  to  assist  in  repelling  an  assault  on  the  left  centre ;  and  the 
same  night  was  recalled  to  Gulp's  Hill,  where  the  next  morning,  after 
"seven  hours  and  a  quarter  of  desperate  fighting,"  the  advancing  hosts  of 
"  Stone  wall's  "  veterans,  eager  to  avenge  the  fall  of  their  adored  com- 
mander, were  hurled  back  in  confusion  and  dismay.  O  ye  patriot  fathers, 
who  were  too  old  and  infirm  to  join  these  heroes  !  and  ye  fathers  and 
mothers,  who  had  no  sons  to  give,  well  may  you  envy  those  whose  sons 
were  marshalled  on  that  famous  field !  Yes,  well  may  you  envy  those 
whose  children  died  to  win,  or  live  to  wear,  the  dear-bought  honors  of 
those  three  momentous  days  1 

Transferred  to  the  Army  of  the  Southwest, 

After  Gettysburg  came  Chickamauga.  The  issue  of  that  great  battle 
was  unfortunate  for  the  Union  arms.  Rosecrans,  the  sterling  patriot,  the 
brave  soldier,  the  skillful  commander,  did  not  fully  sustain  the  reputation 
he  had  won  amid  the  iron  hail  of  Corinth  and  Stone  River.  But,  George 
H.  Thomas,  saved  the  day  from  going  down  in  the  darkness  of  total  defeat, 
and  arose  from  the  wrecks  of  its  misfortunes  to  strike  those  famous  blows 
for  his  flag  and  country  at  Franklin  and  Nashville,  that  will  enshrine  him 
for  all  time  to  come  in  every  truly  American  bosom. 

The  defeat  of  General  Rosecrans  made  it  necessary  to  reinforce  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland.  For  this  purpose  the  llth  and  12th  corps  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  were  detached,  and  ordered  to  join  the  Army 
of  the  Southwest.  Geary  still  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  12th  corps,  and 
continued  at  the  head  of  his  old  division.  Other  reinforcements  were 
hurried  forward  to  the  scene  of  the  late  disaster.  Grant,  the  silent  and 
invincible,  having  laid  Vicksburg  in  the  dust,  had  now  come  to  the  moun- 
tains of  Tennessee,  and  assumed  the  chief  command.  With  that  extraor- 
dinary clear-sightedness,  promptitude,  and  vigor,  which  naturally  belong 
to  him.  and  which  with  other  eminent  qualifications,  constitute  him  the- 
greatest  of  living  captains,  he  at  once  initiated  a  series  of  important 


25 

movements,  designed  to  dislodge  Bragg  from  the  formidable  positions 
he  had  gained  by  the  victory  at  Chickamauga,  in  the  previous  autumn. 
In  pursuance  of  his  masterly  plan,  a  battle  was  fought  at  Wauhatchie, 
October  28th,  1863;  another  at  Lookout  Mountain,  November  24th; 
another  at  Mission  Ridge,  November  25th ;  and  a  fourth,  November  27th, 
at  Ringgold,  in  the  State  of  Georgia.  These  victories  won  in  such  rapid 
succession,  constitute  Grant's  great  "Chattanooga  Campaign,"  by  which 
he  hurled  Bragg  from  heights  which  he  fondly  deemed  inaccessible,  drove 
him  across  the  Tennessee  line,  and  set  all  loyal  hearts  in  the  country  wild 
with  joy. 

Battle  of  Wauhatchie,  fought  by  Geary's  Division, 

The  name  of  General  Geary  will  ever  be  proudly  associated  with  the 
events  of  this  brilliant  campaign  of  his  incomparable  chief.  It  is  not 
generally  known,  but  it  is  a  fact  worthy  of  notice,  that  his  division  fought 
the  battle  of  Wauhatchie  alone.  The  other  two  divisions  of  Slocum's 
corps  were,  at  that  time,  guarding  the  railroad  between  Bridgeport  and 
Murfreesboro,  a  distance  of  twenty-eight  miles  from  the  scene  of  action. 
Geary's  also  was  the  only  division  of  the  corps  that  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Lookout  Mountain,  Mission  Ridge,  and  Ringgold.  Of  the  battle 
of  Wauhatchie,  General  Hooker  spoke  in  his  official  report,  as  follows : 

"  During  these  operations  a  heavy  musketry  fire,  with  occasional  dis- 
charges of  artillery,  continued  to  reach  us  from  Geary.  It  was  evident 
that  a  formidable  adversary  had  gathered  around  him,  and  that  he  was 
battering  him  with  all  his  might.  For  more  than  three  hours,  without 
assistance,  he  repelled  the  repeated  attacks  of  vastly  superior  numbers, 
and  in  the  end  drove  them  ingloriously  from  the  field.  At  one  time  they 
had  enveloped  him  on  three  sides,  under  circumstances  that  would  have 
dismayed  any  officer  except  one  endowed  with  an  iron  will  and  the  most 
exalted  courage.  Such  is  the  character  of  General  Geary. 

*****  *** 

"  As  to  the  loss  of  the  enemy,  it  cannot  fall  short  of  fifteen  hundred. 
Geary  buried  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  rebels  on  his  front  alone.  He  took 
one  hundred  and  thirty  prisoners,  and  several  hundred  stand  of  small  arms." 

In  reference  to  the  same  action  his  corps  commander,  General  Slocum, 
addressed  to  him  the  following  letter  of  congratulation : 

"HEADQUARTERS  TWELFTH  CORPS,  ARMY  OP  THE  CUMBERLAND, 
"  MURFREESBORO,  TENN.,  Nov.  13,  1863. 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  : — I  am  very  happy  to  hear  the  good  reports  which 
reach  me  from  all  sides,  relative  to  the  conduct  of  your  command  in  the 
recent  action.  The  contest  was  one  of  very  great  importance.  The  highest 
credit  is  awarded  to  you  and  your  command,  not  only  by  General  Thomas 
but  by  all  officers  conversant  with  the  circumstances. 

"  As  I  was  not  with  you  I  can  claim  no  portion  of  the  credit  gained, 
nor  can  I,  with  good  taste,  publish  an  order  expressing  thanks  to  you,  but 
I  wish  you  and  your  command  to  know  that  I  have  been  informed  of  all 


26 

the  facts  in  the  case,  and  that  I  feel  deeply  grateful  for  their  gallant  con- 
duct and  for  the  new  laurels  they  have  brought  to  our  corps. 

"H.  W.  SLOCUM." 
"Brigadier-general  J.  W.  GEARY, 

"  Commanding  Second  Division,  Twelfth  Army  Corps." 

Bereavement  in  the  Hour  of  Victory, 

But  this  glorious  campaign,  in  which  General  Geary  bore  so  gallant  and 
honorable  a  part,  will  ever  be  associated  in  his  memory  with  an  event  that 
filled  his  heart  with  unutterable  sorrow. 

On  this  bloody  field,  his  eldest  son,  Captain  Edward  R.  Geary,  then  only 
nineteen  years  of  age,  commanded  one  of  the  sections  of  the  celebrated 
"  Knapp's  Battery,"  and  fell,  pierced  through  the  forehead,  while  bravely 
maintaining  his  position  against  the  fierce  assault  of  superior  numbers. 
The  following  narrative  is  from  the  pen  of  one  who  knew  this  young 
officer  well.  In  1861,  though  scarcely  sixteen  years  of  age,  he  had  been 
commissioned  second  lieutenant ;  he  was  afterwards,  for  meritorious  ser- 
vices, promoted  to  first  lieutenant,  and  served  constant!}7  in  the  field  until 
his  death. 

"  He  was  actively  engaged  in  the  battles  of  Cedar  Mountain,  Sulphur 
Springs,  South  Mountain,  Antietam,  Chancellors ville,  Gettysburg,  and 
last  the  bloody  field  of  Wauhatchie,  besides  numerous  skirmishes,  which 
were  of  frequent  occurrence,  during  the  campaigns  of  Banks  and  Pope  in 
Virginia.  In  so  high  estimation  was  he  held  by  his  brethren  in  arms,  who 
had  witnessed  his  high  soldierly  bearing,  and  knew  his  virtues  and  manly 
qualities,  that  after  the  death  of  Captain  Hampton,  commanding  Company 
F,  Pennsylvania  Independent  Battery,  who  fell  at  Chancellorsville,  both 
officers  and  men  of  that  battery  united  in  asking  Governor  Curtin  to 
commission  Lieutenant  Geary  as  their  captain.  They  still  remained  with 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  while  Knapp's  Battery  went  with  Geary's 
Division  to  Chattanooga.  He  was  duly  commissioned  as  captain.  The 
commission  and  orders  to  report  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  were  en 
route  to  him  at  the  time  of  his  death.  In  the  bloody  field  of  Wauhatchie, 
he  filled  the  post  of  first  lieutenant,  commanding  one  section  of  Knapp's 
Battery.  The  slaughter  in  that  command  attests  the  fierceness  of  the 
struggle.  About  fifteen  hundred  men  under  General  Geary  (the  balance 
of  his  division  having  been  left  several  miles  in  the  rear)  were  attacked 
from  an  eminence  by  not  less  than  five  thousand  of  Longstreet's  troops, 
of  the  enemy,  commanded  by  him  in  person,  at  about  midnight,  in  an  open 
field,  without  intrenchments  or  cover  of  any  kind.  In  the  battery,  four 
guns  only  were  engaged,  and  nearly  all  the  horses  were  killed  or  wounded. 
Captain  Atwell  and  Lieutenant  Geary  were  among  the  slain.  After  several 
hours'  hard  fighting  the  enemy  were  repulsed  at  every  point  with  great 
slaughter.  In  the  hoNir  of  danger,  Lieutenant  Geary  was  cool  and  intrepid. 
Though  in  many  a  fearful  fight,  he  never  for  a  moment  faltered ;  always 
conscious  that  instant  death  might  summon  him  at  any  moment  into  the 
presence  of  his  God.  To  a  friend  riding  by  his  side  to  the  battle  of  Antie- 
tam, he  said,  "  We  are  here  now,  but  who  can  tell  where  we  shall  be  an  hour 
hence  ?"  And  with  an  affectionate  farewell  he  immediately  passed  to  his 
post  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight. 

"  As  an  artillerist  he  had  no  superior  in  the  army.  It  was  his  custom 
in  battle  to  dismount  and  assist  in  working  his  guns.  In  this  action,  in 
the  act  of  sighting  his  gun,  his  forehead  pierced  with  a  bullet,  young 


27 

Geary  fell,  and  instantly  expired.  His  father  coming  to  the  spot,  clasped 
in  an  agonizing  embrace  the  lifeless  form  of  his  boy,  then  mounting  his 
horse,  dashed  wildly  into  the  thickest  ranks  of  the  foe,  and  rode  like  an 
avenging  spirit  over  that  bloody  field  until  the  enemy  were  utterly  routed 
aid  put  to  flight.  This  General  Hooker  pronounced  the  most  gallant  and 
successful  charge  that  has  come  to  his  knowledge  during  the  war.  Gene- 
rals Grant,  Thomas  and  Hooker  rode  upon  the  field  the  next  morning, 
complimenting  in  strong  terms  General  Geary  for  his  stubborn  resistance 
to  an  immensely  superior  force.  The  supplies  to  the  army  at  Chatta- 
nooga are  saved ;  alas,  with  what  a  sacrifice  !  The  eye  of  the  General  is 
Moistened  with  tears.  His  first-born  has  fallen  a  sacrifice,  and  many  a 
gallant  spirit  who  had  followed  him  through  many  a  bloody  fight  has  bit 
the  dust.  Thus  fell  a  noble  son  of  a  noble  sire ;  another  victim  to  this  ac- 
cursed rebellion  ;  another  pledge  given  by  our  country  in  the  blood  of  her 
noblest  sons,  that  the  freedom  bequeathed  to  us  by  patriot  ancestors  shall 
be  by  us  transmitted,  unimpaired,  redeemed  and  purified,  to  our  posterity." 

The  Battles  of  Lookout  Mountain,  Mission  Eidge  and  Kinggold, 

On  November  24th  the  battle  of  Lookout  Mountain  was  fought,  under 
the  immediate  leadership  of  General  Geary.  After  the  contest  at  Wau- 
hatchie,  and  when  the  results  of  that  victory  had  settled  the  question  of 
supplying  the  army  at  Chattanooga,  it  was  determined  that  an  effort 
should  be  made  to  drive  the  enemy  from  Lookout  Mountain  and  Mission 
Ridge.  General  Hooker  selected  Geary  for  the  perilous  work  of  taking 
the  Mountain,  and  in  less  than  an  hour  after  our  Pennsylvania  commander 
received  the  order,  his  troops  were  on  the  march.  Crossing  Lookout 
Creek,  the  rebel  pickets  were  surprised  and  captured,  and  Geary's  men 
moved  quietly  over  ledges  and  boulders,  onward  and  upward,  until  they 
had  rounded  the  rugged  peak  and  stood  beneath  the  lofty  palisades.  The 
contest  was  sharp  but  decisive,  and  as  the  mist  which  enveloped  the 
mountain  cleared  away,  the  troops  in  the  valley  beneath  for  the  first 
time  were  enabled  to  ascertain  the  position  of  their  comrades,  and  to  know 
that  they  had  been  victorious.  The  enemy,  driven  by  a  succession  of 
terrible  assaults  from  their  redoubts,  redans  and  rifle-pits,  fled  in  disorder 
down  the  mountain  sides. 

This  contest  has  been  most  aptly  termed  "  The  battle  above  the  clouds," 
and  no  more  conclusive  proof  of  Its  importance  and  severity  could  be 
added  than  the  following  extract  from  the  official  report  of  General 
Hooker:  "Viewed  from  whatever  point,"  says  the  General,  "Lookout 
Mountain,  with  its  high  palisaded  crest  and  its  steep,  rugged,  rocky  and 
deeply  furrowed  slopes,  presented  an  imposing  barrier  to  our  advance,  and 
when  to  these  natural  obstacles  were  added  almost  interminable  well- 
planned  and  well-constructed  defences,  held  by  Americans,  the  assault 
became  an  enterprise  worthy  of  the  ambition  and  renown  of  the  troops  to 
whom  it  was  entrusted."  During  the  battle,  General  Geary  captured  a  large 
amount  of  ammunition  and  stores,  and  twenty-one  hundred  of  the  enemy. 

From  Lookout  the  enemy  were  pursued  across  the  Valley  to  Mission 
Ridge,  where  they  again  attempted  to  make  a  stand,  but  the  attempt  was 
in  vain.  The  history  of  that  battle  of  November  25th  has  been  faithfully 
written,  and  it  is  only  our  duty  to  say  that  Geary  was  there,  and,  as 


28 

fighting  Joe  Hooker  remarked,  "  always  in  the  right  place."  While  his 
brother  commanders  were  driving  the  rebel  troops  from  their  works  on  the 
sides  and  summit  of  the  ridge,  he  rolled  up  their  left  in  the  Rossville  gap. 

From  Mission  Ridge  to  Ringgold  was  but  a  comparatively  short  dis- 
tance, and  on  the  2tth  of  November  our  advance  came  up  with  the  rear  of 
the  flying  foe  at  the  latter-named  place.  A  stubborn  and  sanguinary  battle 
followed,  and  victory  again  perched  upon  the  banners  of  the  Union  troops. 
Geary  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fray,  and  while  furthest  in  advance,  driv- 
ing the  rebels  before  him,  orders  came  for  him  to  return,  and  thus  this 
campaign,  one  of  the  most  glorious  and  successful  of  the  war,  terminated 
with  increased  lustre  to  the  fame  of  Grant  and  Hooker,  under  whose  com- 
mand it  had  been  fought,  and  to  John  W.  Geary  and  the  other  leaders  who 
had  battled  victoriously  from  its  inception  to  its  close. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  following  month,  General  Geary  issued  the 
following  general  order : 

"HEADQUARTERS  SECOISTD  DIVISION,  TWELFTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

44  Wauhatchie,  Tenn.,  December  3,  1863. 

"  A  most  important  era  in  the  present  contest  for  national  existence  has  just  been 
passed ;  battles  culminating  in  grandest  success,  fought  and  won,  and  the  part  taken 
by  the  troops  of  this  Division  in  the  engagements  by  which  it  has  been  marked,  hav- 
ing reflected  so  much  honor  upon  themselves  as  individuals,  and  the  command  to 
which  they  are  attached,  the  General  commanding  cannot  refrain  from  alluding  to 
these  services  in  terms  which  shall  convey  in  some  measure  his  warm  appreciation  of 
their  valor,  their  patriotism  and  their  noble  endurance  of  severe  hardships,  while  en- 
gaged in  the  arduous  campaign. 

44  With  heartfelt  pride  he  refers  to  their  prowess  in  the  assaults  which  made  them 
the  heroes  of  Lookout  Mountain  on  the  24th  ultimo,  and  to  their  gallant  conduct  upon 
Mission  Ridge  on  the  25th,  Pea  Vine  Creek  on  the  26th,  and  at  Ringgold  upon 
Taylor's  Ridge  on  the  27th.  The  conquest  of  Lookout  Mountain  will,  associated 
with  the  emblematic  '  White  Star '  of  the  conquerors,  stand  out  as  prominently  in 
history  as  do  the  beetling  cliffs  of  that  Titanic  eminence  upon  the  horizon. 

"For  these  services  he  tenders  them  his  heartfelt  thanks  ;  for  their  endurance  his 
sympathy  ;  for  their  bereavement  in  the  loss  of  so  many  gallant  officers  and  so  many 
brave  and  noble  men,  his  condolence.  In  all  the  Division,  death  could  not  have 
selected  braver  spirits,  nobler  hearts,  than  those  who  have  laid  their  lives  a  sacrifice 
upon  their  country's  altar  in  the  recent  engagements  with  the  rebel  forces.  He 
assures  them  that  their  gallant  conduct  has  gained  for  them  the  high  esteem  and 
appreciation  of  the  commanding  generals. 

44  It  behooves  us  to  remember  prayerfully  that  the  hand  of  the  Omnipotent  Architect 
of  the  Universe  is  visible  in  our  great  victories,  and  that  He  who  holds  in  His  hands 
the  destinies  of  nations,  has  in  His  goodness  answered  the  humble  petitions  for  suc- 
cess to  crown  our  arms,  which  ascended  from  anxious  hearts  to  His  Heavenly  throne." 

Campaign  of  Atlanta, 

In  the  spring  ef  1864  the  Army  of  the  Southwest  was  reorganized,  and 
Grant,  having  been  invested  with  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-general,  and 
appointed  Commander-in-Chief,  Sherman  assumed  command  of  all  the 
forces  designed  to  operate  in  the  Southwestern  and  Southern  States.  By 
direction  of  that  great  Captain  important  changes  were  effected  in  the 
combinations  and  appointments  of  his  army.  Among  others  the  llth 
Corps  (Howard's)  and  the  12th  (Slocum's)  were  consolidated,  becoming 
in  this  form  the  20th  Army  Corps,  with  "Fighting  Joe  Hooker"  in 
command.  Geary  was  continued  in  charge  of  the  2d  Division,  consisting 
of  his  old  troops,  with  the  addition  of  one  brigade  from  the  llth  Corps. 
The  two  great  campaigns  of  this  memorable  year  were  opened  on  the  sam 


29 

day.  On  the  4th  of  May  Grant  moved  from  the  Rapidan  to  encounter 
Lee,  and  Sherman  from  Chattanooga  to  encounter  Johnston.  Sherman's 
army  was  complete  in  equipment,  and  about  ninety  thousand  strong.  The 
events  which  followed  can  scarcely  be  named  in  these  pages.  They  belong 
to  history.  The  future  historian  will  note  the  strength  of  the  moun- 
tainous country  that  was  to  be  traversed  by  the  Union  commander,  the 
formidable  defences  which  his  opponent  had  constructed  to  repel  his 
advance,  the  danger  to  which  every  day's  march  from  his  base  exposed 
his  communications.  He  will  tell  how  Sherman  and  his  Lieutenants 
designed,  and  how  they  executed — how  the  veterans  of  the  subordinate 
commands,  and  of  the  rank  and  file,  endured  the  fatigues  of  the  march, 
without  complaint,  and  confronted  the  perils  of  battle  without  fear — how, 
with  hard  tack  and  bacon  in  their  knapsacks,  and  the  love  of  country  in 
their  souls,  they  slept  through  the  night  on  the  bare  ground,  and  fought 
through  the  day  mid  storms  of  rain  from  heaven,  and  storms  of  bullets 
and  shell  from  the  lines  of  the  enemy — how  they  dragged  their  batteries 
into  line — how  they  forded  rivers — how  they  scaled  mountains — how  they 
stormed  positions  when  they  couldn't  flank  them,  and  flanked  them  when 
they  couldn't  storm  them — how  they  forced  the  passes  of  Tunnel  Hill,  the 
gorges  of  the  Kenesaw,  and  the  banks  of  the  Chattahoochee — and  how 
a  grateful  and  admiring  country  uncovered  at  the  mention  of  their  heroic 
deeds,  and  made  the  very  pillars  of  the  firmament  tremble  with  shouts  of 
exultation  over  their  manifold  and  sublime  achievements. 

Battles, 

It  will  suffice  for  the  special  object  of  this  narrative  to  say  that  Geary 
was  there.  At  the  head  of  that  division  to  which  he  was  endeared,  and 
which  was  endeared  to  him  by  so  long  a  companionship  in  perils,  hardships 
and  sufferings,  he  participated  in  the  battles  of  Mill  Creek  and  Snake 
Gaps,  May  the  8th;  Resaca,  May  15th;  New  Hope  Church,  commencing 
May  26th  and  continuing  eight  consecutive  days;  Pine  Hill,  June  15th; 
Muddy  Creek,  June  17th;  Nose's  Creek,  June  19th;  Kolb's  Farm,  June 
22d ;  Kenesaw,  June  27th ;  Marietta,  July  3d ;  Peach  Tree  Creek,  July 
20th,  and  the  siege  of  Atlanta,  lasting  twenty-eight  da3^s,  and  ending  in 
the  capture  of  the  city  on  the  2d  of  September.  To  use  his  own  language: 
"  The  campaign,  from  its  opening  till  the  fall  of  Atlanta,  was  really  a  one 
hundred  days'  fight,  and  may  be  termed  a  continuous  battte,  crowned  with 
constant  -victory." 

Sherman's  March  to  the  Sea, 

General  Sherman  having  reached  the  objective  point,  and  gained  the 
grand  end  of  the  skillful  plans  he  had  formed  at  Chattanooga  on  the  4th 
of  May,  entered  at  once  upon  other  plans  and  dispositions.  Hood  was 
consigned  to  the  care  of  Thomas,  and  Sherman,  with  one-half  of  his  grand 
array,  swung  round  upon  his  pivot  at  Atlanta,  cut  loose  from  his  commu- 
nications, and  started  on  his  famous  march  for  the  Atlantic  coast.  He 
took  Geary  with  him.  On  the  25th  of  July  Hooker  had  been  relieved  from 


30 

command  of  the  20th  Corps,  at  his  own  request,  and  Williams  had  suc- 
ceeded him,  as  senior  Division  General.  Geary  still  remained  at  the  head 
of  his  old  division. 

It  is  well  remembered  what  predictions  were  uttered  respecting  Sher 
man's  great  movement  toward  the  sea.  The  rebels,  and  the  Nassau 
blockade-runners,  the  English  cotton  bond-holders,  and  the  Southern 
sympathizing  copperheads,  "each  did  after  their  kind."  It  was  said: 
"He  has  started  somewhere,  but  he'll  not  get  there,  nor  will  he  ever  get  back." 
One-half  of  the  envious,  cowardly,  malicious  prediction  was  fulfilled.  But, 
alas  !  alas!  it  was  not  the  half  which  these  sworn  enemies  of  republican 
institutions  so  much  desired  to  see.  It  was  never  in  his  mind  to  turn 
back,  but  to  go  forward.  "  He  came,  he  saw,  he  conquered."  Charleston, 
that  had  so  long  laughed  and  jeered  in  defiant  treason,  and  Savannah, 
that  had  deemed  herself  impregnable,  were  uncovered,  and  laid  low.  In 
all  the  movements,  the  marches,  and  battles,  that  drove  the  Union 
ploughshare  through  these  hotbeds  of  treason,  Geary  and  his  division 
played  their  accustomed  part. 

Eeceives  the  Surrender  of  Savannah. 

General  Geary  led  in  the  advance  upon  Savannah,  after  the  fall  of  Fort 
McAllister,  and  received  the  surrender  of  the  city  at  the  head  of  his  division. 
In  consideration  of  his  distinguished  services,  in  the  siege  and  capture,  he 
was  appointed  Military  Governor  of  the  city  by  General  Sherman.  And 
here,  as  in  every  other  administrative  position  he  has  ever  occupied,  he 
won  for  himself  the  most  flattering  acknowledgments.  At  a  meeting  of 
the  citizens  of  Savannah,  convened  by  Mayor  Arnold,  December  28,  1864, 
the  following,  among  other  resolutions  equally  complimentary,  was  unani- 
mously adopted: 

"Resolved,  That  Major-General  Sherman  having  appointed  Brigadier- 
general  Geary  commander  of  this  post,  who  has  by  his  urbanity  as  a  gen- 
tleman, and  his  uniform  kindness  to  our  citizens,  done  all  in  his  power  to 
protect  their  persons  from  insult,  and  their  property  from  injury,  it  is  the 
unanimous  desire  of  all  present,  that  he  be  allowed  to  remain  in  his  present 
position,  and  that  for  the  reasons  above  stated,  the  thanks  of  the  citizens 
are  hereby  tendered  to  him  and  the  officers  of  his  command." 

Promoted  to  the  Eank  of  Major- General, 

While  in  command  of  the  city,  as  Military  Governor,  he  was,  in  grateful 
recognition  of  his  services  throughout  the  war,  breveted  Major-general 
of  Volunteers.  His  commission  was  dated  January  12th,  1865,  and  the 
reasons  assigned  for  his  promotion,  in  the  document  itself,  are  for  "fitness  to 
command  and  promptness  to  execute."  With  this  well-merited  mark  of  his 
country's  approbation,  he  declined  the  request  of  the  people  of  Savannah, 
that  he  might  be  continued  in  command  of  their  city,  and  braced  anew  by 
the  sense  of  the  honor  and  responsibility  conferred  by  his  promotion, 
took  the  field  for  the  final  conflict. 

The  following  extract  from  Major  Nichols'  "  Story  of  the  Great 
March,"  will  explain  why  the  people  of  that  city  were  so  anxious  to  have 


31 

him  remain  in  command:  "General  Geary,  commanding  a  division  of  the 
Twentieth  Corps,  is  now  the  Military  Governor  of  Savannah.  He  is  a  tall, 
stalwart,  soldierly  man,  with  a  full  black  beard,  and  an  open,  inviting  face. 
He  has  a  hearty,  hospitable  manner,  which  pleases  everybody ;  is  sensibly 
discreet  and  firm ;  understands  precisely  the  nature  of  his  duties,  and  ex- 
ecutes them  noiselessly  but  effectively.  The  citizens  are  delighted  with 
him,  and  they  may  well  be  so,  for  no  city  was  ever  kept  in  better  order. 
Clean  streets,  careful  and  well  instructed  guards,  perfect  protection  of 
property,  and  a  general  sense  of  comfort  and  security  indicate  the  execu- 
tive capacity  and  the  good  judgment  of  the  General." 

End  of  the  War, 

During  the  campaign  in  the  Carolinas,  which  followed  the  capture  of 
Savannah,  Geary's  division  fought  on  the  Apalache  and  Oconee  rivers,  at 
Sandsboro'  and  Davisboro',  at  Salkahatchie  and  North  and  South  Edisto ; 
at  Red  Bank  and  Congaree ;  at  Black  river  and  Bentonville.  Here,  in 
the  vicinity  of  Goldsboro'  and  Raleigh,  the  gigantic  struggle  that  saved 
the  Republic,  and  gave  hope  to  the  world,  was  brought  to  a  close.  The 
"  White  Star  "  division,  with  their  old  commander,  witnessed  the  surrender 
of  Johnston,  and  after  participating  in  the  grand  review  at  Washington, 
were  disbanded  and  returned  to  their  homes.  Their  work  was  done.  How 
well  they  did  it,  poets  and  orators,  patriots  and  Christians,  historians  and 
philosophers,  and  all  people  who  believe  in  God,  and  aspire  to  be  free,  will 
continue  to  tell  in  every  age  and  with  every  tongue. 

Conclusion. 

A  few  things  more  strictly  personal  to  General  Geary  and  his  command, 
remain  to  be  told,  and  may  properly  conclude  this  brief  and  imperfect 
narrative.  This  valiant  and  faithful  soldier  was  present  and  participated 
in  sixty  battles,  and  was  four  times  wounded;  made  the  entire  circuit  of 
the  rebel  confederacy,  and  fought  its  authors  and  defenders  from  every 
State  that  acknowledged  their  usurped  authority.  The  regiment  which  he 
recruited  in  the  beginning  (the  28th  Pennsylvania)  continued  with  him 
to  the  end  of  the  war.  The  brigade  he  commanded  was  the  first  in  the 
whole  army  to  re-enlist  as  veterans.  The  division  he  led  in  so  many 
battles  was  never,  in  a  single  instance,  either  repulsed  or  driven  by  the 
enemy.  Its  unyielding  front  in  the  day  of  battle  will  account  for  its  losses. 
During  its  campaigns  in  the  Southwest  and  South  its  casualties  were 
about  twenty-nine  hundred,  and  from  the  time  he  assumed  command  to 
the  close  of  the  war,  the  number  was  not  less  than  ten  thousand.  It  is 
noteworthy  also  that  no  regiment,  after  being  transferred  to  his  brigade 
or  division,  ever  left  his  command  till  it  was  duly  mustered  out  of  service. 
This  universal  and  uninterrupted  satisfaction  is  a  very  rare  thing  in  mili- 
tary commands.  This  unusual  attachment  of  his  troops  to  him  is  to  be 
chiefly  ascribed  to  the  following  circumstances  : 

First.  Their  respect  for  his  personal  bravery  and  fortitude  as  a  soldier, 
and  their  confidence  in  his  prudence  and  skill  as  a  commanding  officer. 


IT  u  ;  *       tw  w 

32 

Secondly,  to  the  unwearied,  the  sleepless  attention  he  gave  to  the  com- 
fort of  his  command.  The  methodical  character  of  his  mind  enabled  him 
to  supervise  all  the  details  of  marching  and  encamping  with  great  facility. 
While  other  commands  were  frequently  allowed  to  straggle  out  of  time, 
and  were  badly  camped,  and  poorly  fed  and  clothed,  his  troops  were  always 
brought  up  to  time,  kept  in  order,  snugly  quartered,  and,  in  a  word,  cared 
for  in  all  respects  as  though  they  had  been  his  own  children.  His  chief 
Commissary  and  chief  Quartermaster,  though  diligent  and  faithful  officers, 
received  a  few  hints  from  the  General  every  day  respecting  tents  and  cloth- 
ing, sugar  and  coffee,  beans  and  rice,  hard  tack  and  bacon. 

And  as  to  any  lack  of  vigilance  with  regard  to  the  motions  of  the  enemy, 
or  in  any  way  being  taken  by  surprise,  no  one  ever  dreamed  of  such  an 
occurrence  who  knew  anything  about  the  structure  of  his  mind,  or  hi& 
habits  in  the  army.  Some  members  of  his  personal  staff,  in  fact,  were  fre- 
quently astonished  at  his  sleepless  vigilance. 

This  brief  sketch  of  the  military  career  of  General  Geary  cannot  be 
better  closed  than  with  the  opinion  of  his  former  commander  and  com- 
panion in  arms.  Major-general  Joseph  Hooker  says  of  him:  "My  ao- 
"quaintance  with  General  Geary  is  of  long  standing.  I  knew  him  in 
"  California,  in  Mexico,  and  during  the  Rebellion.  It  gives  me  great 
"  pleasure  to  bear  testimony  to  his  most  excellent  character  as  a  military 
"leader,  and  as  an  honorable  man.  I  know  of  no  officer  who  has  per- 
"  formed  his  whole  duty  with  more  fidelity  than  General  Geary." 

But  few  men  have  been  so  happily  constituted,  or  at  his  time  of  life  been 
blessed  with  an  experience  so  long  and  varied  in  the  most  important  public 
affairs.  In  the  best  sense  of  the  term  he  may  be  said  to  possess  a  thor- 
oughly disciplined  and  well  stored  mind.  He  has  been  a  schoolmaster,  a 
civil  engineer,  a  lawyer,  a  farmer,  a  manufacturer,  and  a  soldier.  He  has 
served  as  mayor  of  a  city,  as  judge  of  a  court,  as  governor  of  a  territory, 
and  from  the  humble  post  of  a  volunteer  captain  has  risen  to  the  exalted 
rank  of  Major-General  in  the  United  States  army.  Tried  in  almost  all 
departments  of  the  public  service,  he  has  proved  himself  equal  to  the 
exigencies  of  his  position ;  and  amid  the  most  difficult  and  adverse  cir- 
cumstances, his  rare  ability,  prudence  and  firmness  have  enabled  him  to 
achieve  success  and  honorable  distinction.  California  and  Kansas  tested 
his  civil  abilities ;  while  upon  a  theatre,  extending  from  the  banks  of  the 
Potomac  to  the  shores  of  the  Gulf,  and  from  the  harbor  of  Yera  Cruz 
to  the  heights  of  Chepultepec,'he  has  illustrated  the  qualities  of  the  patriot 
and  soldier,  and  asserted  the  honor  and  vindicated  the  authority  of  the 
Constitution  and  flag  of  his  country.  And  now,  without  having  enriched 
himself  by  his  superior  opportunities  for  personal  aggrandizement,  he 
makes  his  home  in  a  modest  dwelling  on  the  banks  of  the  Susquehanna, 
feeling  the  proud  consciousness  that  he  has  lived  not  so  much  for  him- 
self as  to  promote  the  highest  welfare  of  his  fellow-men.  Such,  in  brief, 
is  the  candidate  of  the  National  Union  party  in  Pennsylvania  for  Governor 
of  the  Common  wealth. 


i 


